Hitchhiking in Japan hitching on the expressway · Hitching on the expressway in Hitchhiking in Japan
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Hitching on the expressway in Hitchhiking in Japan
Hitching on the expressway in Hitchhiking in Japan
At the SA/PA itself, the best place to hitch is near the offramp to the expressway, ideally so that you're visible from the buildings ? this way drivers can see you as they go in and think about picking you up before they get in their car and make the choice. From a service area with decent traffic, you are very likely to get a ride within minutes. My suggestion here would be to hitch in front of the shops or at the end, close to the toilets. Reason for this is A: most people go to the toilet and B: you can talk to them so they will see you are a nice person as Japanese can be very suspicious.
Once you've made it onto the expressway, it's easy to keep bouncing from one SA/PA to the next one, but a decent highway map is imperative so you know the best place to get off if your destination and your driver's path diverge. Whenever possible, aim for SAs instead of PAs: not only do they have handy things like restaurants, maps and info counters, but they are much busier and thus much easier to hitchhike from. It's entirely possible to cover 500 kilometers or more in a single day by using expressways. A good example of a possible trip is to go from Tokyo to Kyoto in one day.
Note that it is illegal to stop a car or walk on foot anywhere on the expressway itself, including tollbooths, and you will be rapidly picked up by the highway police if you try. Do not allow your driver to drop you off outside a service area.
If you have a Japanese friend or some skills, producing a sign with your destination in Japanese from a piece of cardboard is a good way to inform drivers of your destination and it might increase your chances of finding drivers that can take you longer distances.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Hitchhiking in Japan
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Hitchhiking in Japan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.