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1Oct. 6, 2010: Today was one of those “as good as it gets” experiences when hitchhiking in Japan. I traveled on a rainy day in 6 cars some 250 kilometers from Niigata to Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku … Continue reading →
Oct. 3, 2010: Today I hitchhiked from Sayama City just north of Tokyo back home to Niigata in 6 cars. At first, I had to walk about 45 minutes to get to the highway that goes to the Kan’etsu expressway. After … Continue reading →
Oct. 1, 2010: Today I hitchhiked from Niigata city to Sayama city, a distance of about 280 kilometers, in only 3 cars. There was very little waiting time for the first two cars, but I had to wait 2 hours … Continue reading →
September 20, 2010: Today I was in Noshiro City, a town in northern Akita Prefecture, northern Honshu, the main island of Japan. My goal was to hitchhike as much a possible the 330 kilometers back home to Niigata. I ended … Continue reading →
Today I traveled back home from Toride city in Ibaragi prefecture. At first I took three trains to get to Fujimino station on the Tobu line, the station that is closest to Miyoshi parking area on the Kan’etsu expressway. Normally … Continue reading →
Yesterday I had a very smooth trip hitchhiking to Tokyo from Niigata in only two cars. This was an encouragement to me because the previous 3 trips were difficult and caused me considerable discomfort. The first driver was a lady … Continue reading →
Tuesday, August 10, 2010: Today I had another relatively hard experience hitchhiking. The root of the word “hitchhike” comes from “hitch” (to ride) and “hike” (to walk) and today I did a whole lot of walking, more than yesterday. In … Continue reading →
Monday, August 9, 2010: After an unsuccessful attempt to hitchhike from Suita service area in central Osaka yesterday, today I thought to make it easier on myself by taking a train to Ostsu city in Shiga Prefecture, just on the … Continue reading →
It took me nearly 14 hours today to hitchhike 560 kilometers to Osaka! I got stuck for a period of time at the halfway point in the city of Kanazawa. A parking attendant at Fudoji parking area on the Hokuriku … Continue reading →
I was invited to do some work for a hotel in the city of Ajigasawa on the northern coast of the Sea of Japan in Aomori Prefecture. The hotel people treated me like a king and served me a dinner … Continue reading →
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1children of a couple who took me to a parking area on the Hokuriku Expressway. Trip 1: From Niigata to Osaka Japan enjoys a string of holidays from April 29 to May 5th known as Golden Week. I took advantage … Continue reading →
April 19, 2010: I had intended to hitchhike back home on Sunday morning but stayed in Aomori city in northern Honshu an extra day to deal with a friend’s PC problem. Hitchhiking on a weekend or a holiday is always … Continue reading →
April 6, 2010: Today is the 11th and last day of my trip. The highlight was to meet Tsutomu and Keiko who took me from Gunma prefecture to the Miyoko parking area in Niigata. They are a married couple in … Continue reading →
Muslims praying just after sunset at Fujikawa Service area on the Tomei expressway in Shizuoka prefecture. The cherry blossoms over their heads are in full bloom. April 3, 2010: Osaka was still cold but sunny when I arrived at the … Continue reading →
March 27, 2010: Today is the first day of an extended hitchhiking adventure to southern Japan. I left home at 7:30AM. The weather was unusually fair for normally-cloudy Niigata. The first stop was Kariwa, a village next to Kashiwazaki city … Continue reading →
Mr. and Mrs. Ii who went out of their way to take me to Niigata City March 22, 2010: It was unusually windy with a few snow flurries, and the temperature was just one degree above freezing when I left … Continue reading →
A couple soon to be married who took me from Murakami city toward Yamagata Princess, the Shih Tsu dog that I have been caring for since December is now with new owners. I’m now free to continue to travel Japan, … Continue reading →
Hitomi (27) who took me back home Princess the little Shih Tsu dog I am temporally taking care of was taken to be shampooed, and this set me free from caring for her to do other things. It’s a beautiful … Continue reading →
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1Kevin and Yuriko Jan. 10: I had to make an emergency trip to Oyama city in Tochigi prefecture to fix a PC. Oyama city is a good 270 kilometers from home. It was snowing this morning, not a particularly good … Continue reading →
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2The year is almost over and I probably won’t be going on the road again this month. Last night I added up the distances hitchhiked this year and they totaled to 19,530 kilometers. This is nearly 1000 more kilometers traveled … Continue reading →
