Japanese seller of dairy produce: Would you like a yoghurt?
Me: I’m an atheist.
Japanese seller of dairy produce: Really? That’s nice. Would you like a yoghurt?

I think the Japanese have a very healthy attitide towards religion. That is, they don’t understand what all the fuss is about. There are religions of sorts, of course, but Japanese Buddhism is more a code of living rather than an actual religion, and Shintoism is just ceremonial traditions coupled with an ancient respect for nature. Nobody actually believes that there is literally a god in every tree. I dated a shinto priest for a while, and even he didn’t believe it. Moreover, the fact that these different “religions” have co-existed for so long here – most people have shinto marriages and buddhist funerals – means the concept of a jealous monotheistic religion is all a little bewildering for them. Nobody gives atheism a second thought. They just want to sell you yoghurt. It’s only the over zealous foreigners you have to watch out for (see atheism in action parts one and two).
Which is nice.