home at last

SIXTH ride shizuoka –> yoga TOKYO with nobu

a couple who were interested in america took us back to tokyo (yaay) i didn't really speak to them, though they were interesting drivers nobu did all the talking and was insulting british food every japanese seems to do that (it gets dull) well, it took 6 rides and so many hours more than the typical trip, but i made it… (read on in Trip)

heading home

First ride Osaka –> SA – by Suzu (a hithchiker i met the previous day who let me stay at his place) useful to get started from a SA

collecting hitchhikers!!

second ride SA –> Nagoya SA with another hitchhiker, Kazu

this guy spoke a lot and i didnt really know him, but we got to another SA

Personally, i don't really like going to SAs at busy times of day.. people just take you

from SA to SA which is good, but if you start from a roadside it's easier to get someone who is going

further along your path hmmmm

off course

third ride SA –> Nagoya with Nobu, another hitchhiker

I met a guy called Nobu at a SA and we both were at the same uni in Tokyo and headed

back to Tokyo together! I think hitchhiking as a pair slowed us down a bit…. it took all day to get back, but

it was fine I usually hitchhike in the evenings, so i can enjoy the day and sunshine before spending lots of time… (read on in Trip)

getting there

fourth ride kurozasa SA –> hamamatsu with Nobu

only one minute wait and we were on the way again, gooddd an old guy took us

dnt use english pls

fifth ride hamamatsu SA –> shizuoka with nobu

a masked guy took us he tried to speak english to me lol he thought i couldnt speak japanese hm

another hitchhiker!

whilst waiting in the dark to get the last stretch to osaka, another hitchhiker approached me and he was also heading to Osaka!! before we could finish self introductions, a truck pulled up and said he'd take us to Osaka coooool let's gooo! i asked the guy to take me to a manga kissa, but the other hitchhiker said i could stay his place instead!! cooool! his name was Suzu,… (read on in Trip)

long return

miyajima SA –> diff SA

strange events i got from osaka to hiroshima in 2 rides but the return proved to be harder as everyone was taking holiday at this point suddenly!! there were several other hitchhikers around, i bumped into 4 and met others!

first ride – two women who wanted to become british lol maybe 40 years old they had an interest in the uk super friendly

how cheap can i get

takehara –> hiroshima

there was a train for this journey but it was 1500 yen so i decided to return by hitchhiking i spent the day at the rabbit island near takehara

i shamelessly stood by a supermarket til someone eventually took me to the motorway quite far away it wasn't really a great position and it wasn't a good time of night but, it worked! the guy spoke… (read on in Trip)

hiroshima bound

takehara Lawson –> hiroshima

it didnt take long for someone to stop a salaryman guy picked me up to take me to hiroshima he was kind but he said i was cute… he was old… weird but i made it

he initially took the road going the opposite direction !

kei car

osaka –> akashi SA normal guy in a Japanese 'kei car' took me to a service area it was kinda dark & i had a long wait at the service area

I RODE IN A HEARSE!

akashi SA –> hiroshima station

i waited a good amount of time at the service area before a car with a hiroshima number plate drove past me. it went righhhttt past me…. then turned around and came back! the passenger of the car pointed me out to the driver so they came back for me, how kind!! it only got stranger from then on though… as i got in, the driver said… (read on in Trip)

i aint payin 6000 yen for a bus

tsubame –> ojiya SA though a few cars stopped and told me not to hitchhike, some caring women going the opposite directions and people who wanted to help but couldn't read my sign etc i walked pretty far from the station and it was quickly getting late… didn't seem like such a great idea eventually a guy stopped and offered to take me to a service area which was a great… (read on in Trip)

cool truck guy

ojiya SA –> maebashi SA I was writing my new hitchhike sign at the service area when a long haired truck guy asked me what i was doing he said he could take me part way! great, that was easy and he was cool, maybe one of my favourite hitchhike rides! he told me about how japanese registration plates work in terms of numbers etc he liked rock music etc satoshi 39 years… (read on in Trip)

Tokyo bound again

maebashi –> nerima, tokyo

i was stood holding my sign looking out for cars with tokyo registration plates when a middle aged guy eating an icecream said he could take me. he was with a younger guy and they were heading back to tokyo after snowboarding in niigata or nagano i was kinda sceptical of them coz they weren't openly friendly and the guy was old lol but they were… (read on in Trip)

odd guy

A guy stopped to take us from Tomakomai to Chitose but on the way he took us on a detour he said we could stay the night at his relative's place.. it was super suspicious my friend didn't seem to think twice about stepping in his house to look around but i was cautious to even take my shoes off… still, we didnt and he bought us vending machine drinks instead lol so we… (read on in Trip)

COLD!!

Chitose – sapporo

We stood outside for a good hour before someone finally stopped – in the dark and snowy cold it was freezing and i thought we might die but we did it lol it was the weird driver before us who left us in the WORST place.. that kind of driver is annoying, he took us right past several good spots with convenience shops and good lighting and dropped us at… (read on in Trip)

Truck! double ride!!

kitakami –> hachinohe –> ferry

first ride in a japanese lorry/truck this guy gave us two rides first he drove us to Hachinohe, dropped us right at a manga kissa where we could spend the night then picked us up from there in the morning and took us to the ferry point so we could catch our boat!!!!!!!!! amazing – japanese kindness luckily my travel friend, Fuzuki, was… (read on in Trip)

set off! hokkaido bound

I met my friend in Sendai (she came by bullet train from Nagoya lol) we went to the outskirts of Sendai and held our signs in hope of getting a ride.. the first ride to sooo long to get.. we walked further and further away from the city centre – we even thought we'd have to give up and try again the next day eveeentually a guy in a car stopped and took us to a better road!! he drove us to Izumi

kind meddler お節介

izumi –> kitakami

a middle aged guy then took us from Izumi to a few truck service areas to try and help us get our next ride we didn't need this help, but it wasss getting late and it did actually work we asked one truck driver but she was heading for kagoshima (opposite direction) she felt so bad she couldn't give us a ride that she gave us ボタンアメ which are… (read on in Trip)

the driver was younger than me !

my second hitchhike of the trip, and the driver was younger than me – 19 (I was 21) He was also on the job when he picked me up, answering two phonecalls and fluttering through paperwork as we drove. he spoke in polite japanese over the phone and we discussed the japanese work ethic. he thought about it for the first time and said he's a 社畜 i told him he could change… (read on in Trip)

First hitchhike alone! Ishinomaki

Decided to try hitchhiking alone and set off nervously from the edge of Sendai with my sign for Ishinomaki. It was a little early and I was super sceptical.. but as ever, within 5 minutes someone pulled over and offered me a ride He spoke no English (as with most hitchhike drivers) but that's okay he was a graduate of Waseda (my university in Japan) his name was Hoshi, 58… (read on in Trip)

lake to lake

we hitchhiked between four of the five lakes at the foot of mount fuji. got some amazing views of the mountain itself and great views of the lakes and scenery. got a ride with an old couple who spoke to us coz we're foreign, then an old guy who travelled the world and spoke to us in good english interesting

Tokyo bound

At last towards Tokyo, We don't remember specifically.. but after visiting some kind of mt fuji gift shop and getting warm vending machine drinks, we set off hitchhiking. After quite a wait, a professional snowboarder guy stopped and took us. I had a nap while my friend talked to the driver about snowboarding

we spent a night in Fujisaki at a friend's expensive house… (read on in Trip)

perfect detour

Okazaki → Fujikawaguchiko 217km 1 Alone adventure winter japan Edit

perfect detour

while we were actually bound for Tokyo in our travels, we weren't going to turn down any cool opportunities along the way and it just so turned out that a lone male stopped and offered to take us… to mount fuji lakes!! he was heading there as a holiday to take photos of some rare nebulai… (read on in Trip)

woooa foreigners!

same road, nagoya to nagoya city snatched a ride within moments as the woman in the passenger seat of the car was amazed to see foreigners we told her some English words and she was fun and kind her boyfriend, the driver, was a little overwhelmed by it all but laughed along

castle detour

on our way towards Tokyo, a family of three picked us up. Their baby laughed whenever my friend looked at it…. but when he went to sleep and couldn't see his face anymore, the baby screaaamed the whole journey somehow we still managed to have a nap in the car lol when we arrived at okazaki, my friend, me and the baby were all awaken by the parents off we go! we explored… (read on in Trip)

welcome to 2016

new years trying to hitchhike.. we were roadside by 8:30am which is never a good time to hitchhike, especially on a japanese holiday but, after getting hot drinks out of pity from the petrol station worker, we were on our way lone male worker guy took us from nagoya to nagoya city he phoned his wife in transit saying that he would 'explain later' why he was gonna be late… (read on in Trip)

Nagoya for New year!

We hitchhed during the day this time, passing a beautiful river. lovely weather we met our friend Fuzuki in Nagoya and celebrated the new year!

Our driver was a FURRY?!

another evening departure, another route i had little faith in being successful (mountain roads all around) one ride with a lone male driver he opened his boot for our luggage and we saw ropes, wires, antennae … whaaat okay so this guy liked to intercept radios and communicate with people across the world using this .. interesting he then got into telling us how he went… (read on in Trip)

kanazawa couple

In order to see Kanazawa ninja temple, we waited looong in the cold snow til a couple stopped and offered to take us to Kanazawa. They had rented a car for the day and were driving back to Kanazawa. We arrived late at night and found a Ryokan justtt before the closing curfew! We had a nice onsen style bath and chilled out til morning

Where is Takayama?

We waited quite long (30 minutes lol) before two young boys stopped and offered to take us to Takayama. They immediately said they wanted to take us coz I was 'かわいい’… then they realised we wanted to go to Takayama, 2 hours away First, they took us to their house so they could change from 'ナンパcar' to a real car Then, we set off, Takayama-bound! We offered them コンビニ… (read on in Trip)

First hitchhike

Lone male driver, aged ~32 We waited outside Hakuba station for a ride to Matsumoto. I was sceptical it would be successful as it was my first hitchhike, but alas it proved to be the start of something new. A young salaryman took us. He was going to Matsumoto to see his girlfriend and we saw them the next day at Matsumoto's school museum. He used to ski competitively, but now… (read on in Trip)