TheSac
Active member
So I found myself on the edge of the Old World. I've mostly spent my time exploring the immediate ToYoko metro area and nearby places like Kamakura and Atami. I still don't know Japanese national holidays so I was pleasantly surprised to learn a three day weekend was coming up. I had some time. Seemed like a good time to try some hitching.
A buddy of mine said he was going on a train trip for the weekend but didn't have a destination in mind. I mentioned my rapidly forming plans and he asked to tag along. He had never hitched before and wanted to give it a try. I figured Nagoya was far enough that hitching would take time, but would still be possible in a three day period.
Hitch hiking in Japan is pretty much the same as it is in the States with the caveat that you pretty much have to start at a rest stop. I've heard of some people waiting at on ramps but I haven't tried it. Fortunately it's possible to walk to a lot of the rest areas from normal city roads and that's what I did, meeting my friend at the Kohaku Parking Area near Nakayama in the Midori ward at around 8 in the morning.
We made our sign and hung out by the rest area entrance with winning smiles. I had no idea what to expect and was almost immediately surprised when a mom and her small kids gave me and my friend some drinks. With my broken Japanese I understood that they would have given us a ride but didn't have room in their car, but the daughter demanded mom help us in some way. Great kid! We thanked them profusely and waited for another 45 minutes or so before a nice old couple picked us up and took us down the road to Fujikawa. They were on their way to go hike the Mt. Fuji area and told us a lot of stories about how they met and misadventures they'd been on together. Had a big family and were just happy people. They went out of their way to bring us to Fujikawa but said they didn't mind because we were fun.
In Fujikawa we took our time, having lunch and then settling down to wait with the sign. After a half hour a gentleman picked us up and offered to take us to Hamamatsu. He was a business guy who had done a lot of jobs in a lot of industries and had lived all over the place. We had a cheerful conversation and stopped at an overlook on Suruga Bay to look at Mt. Fuji but it was hidden by clouds.
Our next stop was the Mikatahara parking area just outside of Hamamatsu. We had hoped to catch directly to Nagoya from there but we were getting no luck. A kind woman gave us some water and cookies though. People are apparently super nice to travelers here it seems. You bet your ass I made a visit to a shrine once we arrived in Nagoya to thank the road gods. Anyway after waiting for over an hour (still not bad compared to waiting for a lift in upstate New York) a local guy told us to aim for the next big rest area, as the larger volume of travelers might give us a better chance of pressing onward. We adjusted our sign accordingly and within 10 minutes had a ride to the giant Hamanako rest area. It was a short hop, maybe 20 minutes. The driver this time was a dude who used to work in construction building car factories for the big Japanese conglomerates.
Lake Hamana was beautiful but extremely sweaty. Wish I could have gone sailing there.
After a late lunch of some gyoza from the canteen we hustled over to the giant parking lot to look for a ride. Within 5 minutes we got one. A middle aged couple who had done hitching in their youth saw us and took us on immediately and said they'd take us to Nagoya. We talked about all kinds of stuff, American TV shows, their travel stories, stuff to see in Nagoya. It was a fun way to finish off the ride. They dropped us off at a rest area on the edge of Nagoya (the name eludes me at the moment) and my friend and I took a city bus to the closest train station and finally took the subway into down town.
The city was crowded and we ended up sleeping in a karaoke bar but that's a story for another time.
In total the trip took about 11 hours from Kanagawa rest stop to Nagoya down town. I went in with no expectations and found hitch hiking in Japan to be a very pleasant experience. Excellent first impression. I'm already scheming about a trip to Kyoto.
A buddy of mine said he was going on a train trip for the weekend but didn't have a destination in mind. I mentioned my rapidly forming plans and he asked to tag along. He had never hitched before and wanted to give it a try. I figured Nagoya was far enough that hitching would take time, but would still be possible in a three day period.
Hitch hiking in Japan is pretty much the same as it is in the States with the caveat that you pretty much have to start at a rest stop. I've heard of some people waiting at on ramps but I haven't tried it. Fortunately it's possible to walk to a lot of the rest areas from normal city roads and that's what I did, meeting my friend at the Kohaku Parking Area near Nakayama in the Midori ward at around 8 in the morning.
We made our sign and hung out by the rest area entrance with winning smiles. I had no idea what to expect and was almost immediately surprised when a mom and her small kids gave me and my friend some drinks. With my broken Japanese I understood that they would have given us a ride but didn't have room in their car, but the daughter demanded mom help us in some way. Great kid! We thanked them profusely and waited for another 45 minutes or so before a nice old couple picked us up and took us down the road to Fujikawa. They were on their way to go hike the Mt. Fuji area and told us a lot of stories about how they met and misadventures they'd been on together. Had a big family and were just happy people. They went out of their way to bring us to Fujikawa but said they didn't mind because we were fun.
In Fujikawa we took our time, having lunch and then settling down to wait with the sign. After a half hour a gentleman picked us up and offered to take us to Hamamatsu. He was a business guy who had done a lot of jobs in a lot of industries and had lived all over the place. We had a cheerful conversation and stopped at an overlook on Suruga Bay to look at Mt. Fuji but it was hidden by clouds.
Our next stop was the Mikatahara parking area just outside of Hamamatsu. We had hoped to catch directly to Nagoya from there but we were getting no luck. A kind woman gave us some water and cookies though. People are apparently super nice to travelers here it seems. You bet your ass I made a visit to a shrine once we arrived in Nagoya to thank the road gods. Anyway after waiting for over an hour (still not bad compared to waiting for a lift in upstate New York) a local guy told us to aim for the next big rest area, as the larger volume of travelers might give us a better chance of pressing onward. We adjusted our sign accordingly and within 10 minutes had a ride to the giant Hamanako rest area. It was a short hop, maybe 20 minutes. The driver this time was a dude who used to work in construction building car factories for the big Japanese conglomerates.
Lake Hamana was beautiful but extremely sweaty. Wish I could have gone sailing there.
After a late lunch of some gyoza from the canteen we hustled over to the giant parking lot to look for a ride. Within 5 minutes we got one. A middle aged couple who had done hitching in their youth saw us and took us on immediately and said they'd take us to Nagoya. We talked about all kinds of stuff, American TV shows, their travel stories, stuff to see in Nagoya. It was a fun way to finish off the ride. They dropped us off at a rest area on the edge of Nagoya (the name eludes me at the moment) and my friend and I took a city bus to the closest train station and finally took the subway into down town.
The city was crowded and we ended up sleeping in a karaoke bar but that's a story for another time.
In total the trip took about 11 hours from Kanagawa rest stop to Nagoya down town. I went in with no expectations and found hitch hiking in Japan to be a very pleasant experience. Excellent first impression. I'm already scheming about a trip to Kyoto.