Question:
Japan is not a very big country, it is populous though, and Japanese people are of the same ethnicity. So why do they speak so many different dialects?
Answer:
One thing that I know is, there used to be political reasons.
Japan was divided into multiple "藩 han" that is considered to be sovereign in regard to its particular set of constitutional functions (close to a provinces/territory).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_system
For example "kagoshima-ben" (Kyuu-shuu region) or "Tsugaru-ben" (Aomori region) are very different from standard Japanese. That is, they tried to protect themselves by using code-like sounding languages.
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The Han Empire was divided into areas directly controlled by the central government, known as commanderies, and a number of semi-autonomous kingdoms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty
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