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 from Osaka to Hamamatsu City
Reading Time: 3 minutes July 28: Today is low atmospheric pressure throughout Japan with intermittent and sometimes very heavy rain. My destination is Hamamatsu … Continue reading →
Adventure to Kyoto
Reading Time: 2 minutes July 25: Today is the start of a 3 week hitchhike adventure from Niigata in Northern Honshu to the southern … Continue reading →
Adventure from Nagano to Niigata on a rainy day
Reading Time: 3 minutes July 19: This is actually the continuation of my previous post of my adventure to Kita-karuizawa. Word Press apparently doesn’t … Continue reading →
Adventure to Kita-Karuizawa
Reading Time: 4 minutes July 17: The purpose of this trip is to visit new friends, Brian from the UK and his Japanese wife … Continue reading →
Hitchhiking to town
Reading Time: < 1 minute June, 21, 2009: Today is my 59th birthday. I went to one of my favorite traffic lights to hitchhike to … Continue reading →
Adventure from Niigata to Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka
Reading Time: 7 minutes I hitchhiked to Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka Prefecture to bring a laptop PC to my friend Maria and teach her … Continue reading →
Adventure from Saitama to Niigata
Reading Time: < 1 minute The third driver who picked me up today is one of the few Japanese believe that at least part of … Continue reading →
Hitchhiking during Golden Week, 2009
Reading Time: 5 minutes I had a fantastic 10 day trip traveling 1460 kilometers in 28 vehicles during the Japanese holiday season from April … Continue reading →
Hitchhike Adventure to Osaka
Reading Time: 2 minutes I always consider it a miracle to hitchhike from Niigata to Osaka in a single day. The distance is over … Continue reading →
Detained by the police for hitchhiking!
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sunday, April 5, 2009: A lady picked me up and told me at first she would take me to the … Continue reading →
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