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.
Niigata city to Hamamatsu – second hitchhike adventure 2011
Reading Time: 4 minutes January 22: This morning it snowed constantly, not too hard but enough to make me want to take a train … Continue reading →
First hitchhike adventure 2011
Reading Time: 3 minutes On January 9th I hoped to hitchhike from Misawa City in Aomori Prefecture back home to Niigata but I ended … Continue reading →
Hitchhike stats for 2010
Reading Time: < 1 minute Happy new year to all! Yesterday, December 30th, I returned home after a very fruitful 12 day trip to the … Continue reading →
Hitchhike from Tokyo to Osaka less than 6 hours
Reading Time: < 1 minute Today in only two cars and a short 260 yen train ride, I made it from Tokyo to Osaka, right … Continue reading →
Adventure hitchhiking to Saitama city
Reading Time: < 1 minute Today is the first day of another extended road trip. I hope to use this Christmas season to tell the … Continue reading →
Adventure hitchhiking home from Misawa city, Aomori Prefecture
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 14, 2010: Today I hitchhiked back home from Misawa city in Aomori, a distance of 570 kilometers, in only … Continue reading →
Adventure to Akita station
Reading Time: 2 minutes I needed to travel from Niigata to Aomori city for important business the following day. If I hitchhike, I like … Continue reading →
Adventure hitchhiking to Okabe station in Saitama
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nov. 6, 2010: Today my destination was Konosu city in Saitama Prefecture, some 250 kilometers from home. I got to Okabe … Continue reading →
Ten day hitchhike adventure circling central Japan
Reading Time: 2 minutes October 24 to Nov. 3, 2010: I hitchhiked 1390 kilometers in 18 vehicles to cities in the Kanto plain (Tokyo … Continue reading →
Hitchhiking on a rainy day to Saitama
Reading Time: 2 minutes October 15, 2010: Today was cloudy with light showers from time to time. I needed be in the city of … Continue reading →
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