Japan is a great country for sightseeing and travel — if you can afford it. Transportation costs are at least double that of the USA. It costs around US $85 just to travel 300 KM (about 190 miles) by the “bullet train” (Shinkansen in Japanese). Want to save some doe and meet people? Try hitchhiking! I do and I love it!
I first came to Japan in 1972 while in the US military stationed near Tokyo. A couple years later I decided to become a missionary to the Japanese people and tell them about Jesus Christ. Missionaries need to “live by faith”. This also means to live within one’s income. I needed to travel the country to “preach the Gospel” but could not always afford public transportation. My partner and I often opted to hitchhike. We usually got to our destination that day, and if we didn’t, often the person that picked us up took us to their home where we spent the night and sometimes several days.
I wish I had kept a record of all my adventures hitchhiking in Japan. If I had, I would have a book by now which might have even been a best seller. LOL! At the very least, it would have made interesting reading for me in my old age. I will be 67 in June this year of 2017.
I define hitchhiking as getting rides from total strangers. Therefore it does not include rides from associates, friends or family.
What kind of people pick me up?
Kind people, unselfish people, people who care about others. Some are fond of Westerners, some study English and want to practice using it, some lived in the USA and want to repay the kindness they received from Americans, some have hitchhiked in their university days and understand people who do, some have broken hearts (often marital problems or broken love relationships) and wish to pour out their hearts to somebody, some are lonely, and some know they are prone to be sleepy driving on the expressway and wish to have someone to talk with in order to help them stay awake! Some drivers have correctly identified me as a Christian missionary even before I tell them so! They are usually the most open to hearing the Message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible than most Japanese. To meet such people and have an opportunity to share the Truth with them makes it worth all the discomfort of the hot sun, rain, wind and snow I sometimes face while hitchhiking.
How do I hitchhike? Read a page of tips I compiled!
Since August of 2003 I have been keeping statistics of my travels.
Hitchhike adventure to Misawa city, Aomori city, Saitama prefecture Soka city, (next to Tokyo) Niigata city
Reading Time: < 1 minute On October 8th, 2010, from Sendai, the largest city in the northeastern area of Japan, I hitchhiked in 8 vehicles … Continue reading →
Hitchhike adventure to Sendai through Fukushima
Reading Time: 3 minutes Oct. 6, 2010: Today was one of those “as good as it gets” experiences when hitchhiking in Japan. I traveled … Continue reading →
Return trip from Saitama
Reading Time: 2 minutes Oct. 3, 2010: Today I hitchhiked from Sayama City just north of Tokyo back home to Niigata in 6 cars. At … Continue reading →
October 1st hitchhike adventure to Saitama
Reading Time: < 1 minute Oct. 1, 2010: Today I hitchhiked from Niigata city to Sayama city, a distance of about 280 kilometers, in only … Continue reading →
Adventure hitchhiking in Akita Prefecture
Reading Time: 4 minutes September 20, 2010: Today I was in Noshiro City, a town in northern Akita Prefecture, northern Honshu, the main island … Continue reading →
Return to Niigata from Saitama
Reading Time: < 1 minute Today I traveled back home from Toride city in Ibaragi prefecture. At first I took three trains to get to … Continue reading →
Road trip to Tokyo
Reading Time: 2 minutes Yesterday I had a very smooth trip hitchhiking to Tokyo from Niigata in only two cars. This was an encouragement … Continue reading →
Fun hitchhike back home from Saitama
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tuesday, August 10, 2010: Today I had another relatively hard experience hitchhiking. The root of the word “hitchhike” comes from … Continue reading →
Tramatic adventure hitchhiking from Kansai
Reading Time: 3 minutes Monday, August 9, 2010: After an unsuccessful attempt to hitchhike from Suita service area in central Osaka yesterday, today I … Continue reading →
On the road in Osaka
Reading Time: 2 minutes It took me nearly 14 hours today to hitchhike 560 kilometers to Osaka! I got stuck for a period of … Continue reading →
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