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 Chiba prefecture
Reading Time: 5 minutes March 27, 2009 The main purpose of this trip was to bring a desktop PC to a friend in Noda … Continue reading →
Hitchhike adventure to Ikebukero
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ikebukero is one of the large commercial centers in Tokyo with one of the busiest train stations. I intended to … Continue reading →
Making new friends on the way to Isezaki
Reading Time: 2 minutes Isezaki City is in Gunma Prefecture and only about 2/3 of the way to Tokyo from my home. I wasn’t … Continue reading →
Hitch-hike back to Niigata from Saitama
Reading Time: 4 minutes After waiting only a minute at the entrance of the Kan’etsu Expressway in Kawagoe, Mr. Aikawa picked me up and … Continue reading →
Talking to a Soka Gakkai truck driver
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was good weather and still early enough at 4PM to hitchhike the 48 kilometers down route 16 from Noda … Continue reading →
Adventure hitch-hiking to Saitama
Reading Time: 3 minutes I had to return to Sayama City in Saitama Prefecture to help my friend Jonas clean his PC from a … Continue reading →
Adventure from Kobe to Kanto
Reading Time: 3 minutes February 7, 2009: I needed to be in Tokyo the very next day and so I hitch-hiked to Noda City … Continue reading →
Adventure to Osaka and Nagoya
Reading Time: 4 minutes January 29, 2009 Today I went to the city of Kashiwazaki to see my friends Nobuo and Miwako. Kashiwazaki is … Continue reading →
Hitchhike to Tokyo, New Years Eve 2008
Reading Time: < 1 minute Hiromi I hitch-hiked to Tokyo in 5 cars from Niigata. The third driver was Hiromi, 24 years old from Maebashi, … Continue reading →
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