Seasons change everywhere except Yukimatsu which is always snowy
and big lot in wakaba is definitely palace material although i have yet to come up with build myself
if you bulldoze the modern houses in wakaba i feel it almost suits the historical feel better than the shrine neighborhood too since you don't have so many shells between your own lots
the lot on top of the mountain isn't on map its kinda like hidden lot and sure would suit palace if its not important for sims to live on the lot etc.
the empty snowy lot on map is just normal residential lot to do what you please with
Japanese sims show up everywhere just like other worlds sims show up everywhere
and as for lifestyles idk cause i got bored of them so i turned them off :sweat_smile: