With more than 36,000 kilometres of hitchhiking across several countries under my belt, I would start my first big Japanese hitchhiking adventure. I don't have a JR pass so hitchhiking would be my only option unless I wanted to pay through the nose for a shinkansen to Osaka. Getting to the Ebina service area is rather easy and only costs around ¥1,000 but takes nearly two hours. With all my gear on my back I said goodbye to Ed and then came across two foreign damsels in distress; I immediately knew they were looking for Ed's flat so I walked them there. On a series of trains I was to Ebina, with the final stop being the Shake Station (a fitting name being in Japan). It was a fair bit of a walk to the service area and I lost my bearings. When I asked a local where it was he gave me a lift. From there it was waiting and asking around. The turnoff to Tokushima is Kobe, and I was told the names of cities vehicles are registered in are on the license plates in kanji. I was looking for someone going to Kobe, Fukuoka, or Hiroshima since I didn't want to get stuck in Osaka. The service area is a real service area, with many places to eat, vending machines, and the whole lot. I asked the truckies since they were likely going longer distances than cars. With no such luck I went to the end of the service area heading south, and within minutes a couple picked me up. They were going to the Izu Peninsula more than 150 kilometres away. With the likes of Bob Marley and Abba playing it was a great time. However, I didn't realize we were driving south on the peninsula and I knew that'd be a bad place to be stuck. It was already nearly 6 PM, so we stopped at the tourist office for directions and they made me a sign for Kobe in kanji. The girl got a nice photo with me as if she liked me!
My next lift would be with a male nurse, and he would buy me some fries at McDonald's and drop me at the on-ramp in Mishima. It was dark and I was stuck in that spot for more than two hours. By then I was disappointed that I had only made it this far. A young couple drove me to a service area like the one at Ebina and there were a few cars and many trucks around.
My camera battery had died by then, so no more photos until I could charge it! The bright lights of Mishima shone and it was nearly midnight, and many of the truckies were taking naps or breaks. With my kanji sign I waited where the trucks would pass. A truckie took a deep glance at my sign and said "Kobe" and I asked where he was going and he said "Tokushima." Wow, what incredible luck! Keita is his name and he speaks some English. He used to be a dive instructor in Okinawa and has two sons. Hitchhiking in Japan is slightly different to hitchhiking in New Zealand. I reckon it's even safer but the language barrier can be a real problem. If you have a sign saying "Kobe" or "Hiroshima" it's difficult to ask if you could go with them as far as they're going. Many locals also feel obligated to somehow get you all the way to your destination, as I would discover later. Keita told me the seat reclines if I wanted to go to sleep, so I did just that for a few hours. Stopping for a toilet break I got a cafe mocha and in another deep slumber we passed through Osaka and Kyoto. This is one of my longest rides ever! There are many tunnels in Japan. Some of the tunnels we drove through this morning are several kilometres long. Over a bridge, with the sun up, we left Honshu and were on Awaji Island, one of Japan's many small islands. There are four main islands but Japan is made up of more than 3,000 islands. A second bridge would put Keita and I on Shikoku. He dropped me off just north of Tokushima and stocked me up with a bottle of tea and some rice balls. At least I got a few hours of sleep and it was a bit after 7:30 AM. After waiting for about 20 minutes couple of girls and a guy picked me up. Using their iPhone they could interpret what I was asking, and I asked if they could drop me at the road leading to Mima. It's about an hour's drive west of Tokushima, and before we headed out that way we stopped at McDonald's. They asked me if I wanted something to eat and I was content with just two hash browns and a coffee. The girls dropped off the guy and suddenly I was in a car with two gorgeous Japanese girls! Slowly we drove and before I knew it we were at Mika's house! Little did I know is that the girls live in Tokushima, so I couldn't believe they drove an hour out of their way to drop me off!
I felt slightly bad but I guess that's just part of the beauty of hitchhiking in Japan. Five lifts, 600 kilometres and nearly half the length of Japan later, I'm finally in Shikoku. Now I'm staying with a Japanese couple, eating sumptuous Japanese food and sleeping in a tatami room...
