Spirituality?

I'm thinking of going to Japan to research for my Cultural Anthropology degree. I would probably have to stay (in as traditional a dwelling as possible) for probably a year and a half to two years.

No problem, except that I'm a really spiritual person. I do meditation and prayer and chanting, and I visit temples and shrines a lot. I hear that the Japanese aren't very religious, and I don't want to freak anyone out with how I behave. I'm not religious per se, but my spirituality means a lot to me. If I see a memorial of some sort, I'll typically pray silently in front of it for a few seconds, but the chanting and meditation I do alone at home (although I might meditate outside, but in a garden, not in public).

Also interacting with the local population on a personal level, I've heard it's difficult to get the Japanese to discuss their own beliefs, especially to a foreigner.

If my spiritual practice is too unbecoming to the Japanese, I can always go to Egypt, instead.....but I doubt they'd like my chanting, either. ;)

I think they'll just see you as another weird foreign person.

"I've heard it's difficult to get the Japanese to discuss their own beliefs, especially to a foreigner."

This is just because most locals never give it a real thought about "beliefs," so there isn't really anything to "discuss." If they were talking to a local, the local would know it, but this very local situation is sometimes difficult to explain to a foreigner. Why is it difficult? Because there is really nothing to explain.