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.
Adventure hitchhiking home from Ajigasawa
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was invited to do some work for a hotel in the city of Ajigasawa on the northern coast of … Continue reading →
Adventure Hitchhking During Golden Week
Reading Time: 5 minutes children of a couple who took me to a parking area on the Hokuriku Expressway. Trip 1: From Niigata to … Continue reading →
Monday adventure from Aomori to Niigata
Reading Time: 4 minutes April 19, 2010: I had intended to hitchhike back home on Sunday morning but stayed in Aomori city in northern … Continue reading →
Adventure returning home from Tokyo
Reading Time: < 1 minute April 6, 2010: Today is the 11th and last day of my trip. The highlight was to meet Tsutomu and … Continue reading →
Adventure hitchhiking from Osaka to Tokyo
Reading Time: 3 minutes Muslims praying just after sunset at Fujikawa Service area on the Tomei expressway in Shizuoka prefecture. The cherry blossoms over … Continue reading →
Adventure to Kansai
Reading Time: < 1 minute March 27, 2010: Today is the first day of an extended hitchhiking adventure to southern Japan. I left home at … Continue reading →
Adventure Returning Home to Niigata City
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mr. and Mrs. Ii who went out of their way to take me to Niigata City March 22, 2010: It … Continue reading →
Back on the road! — Adventure to Aomori, March 2010
Reading Time: < 1 minute A couple soon to be married who took me from Murakami city toward Yamagata Princess, the Shih Tsu dog that … Continue reading →
Second hitchhike adventure 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hitomi (27) who took me back home Princess the little Shih Tsu dog I am temporally taking care of was … Continue reading →
First hitchhike adventure of 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes Kevin and Yuriko Jan. 10: I had to make an emergency trip to Oyama city in Tochigi prefecture to fix … Continue reading →
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