Hitchhiking in Japan who to hitch with · Who to hitch with in Hitchhiking in Japan
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Who to hitch with in Hitchhiking in Japan
Who to hitch with in Hitchhiking in Japan
In Japan, as everywhere else, your gender matters when hitchhiking. On an ascending scale of difficulty, the best combinations are:
Girl alone (but see below)
Two girls
Boy and girl couple
Boy alone
Two boys
Three or more people
While a single girl (or woman) is likely to get picked up very fast, this has its risks: Japan has its fair share of perverts and predators and a lone hitchhiker in a foreign country is a vulnerable target.
As for who will pick you up, the range of humanity you will encounter is surprising and, once you've crossed the threshold into their car, the generosity and trust will amaze you. You will be picked up by young couples, grizzled old farmers, families with small children, traveling salesmen, single women, yakuza mobsters, Buddhist monks... and, almost without exception, you will be offered drinks and snacks, bought lunch and quite possibly offered a tatami for the night. But try to distinguish between offers of genuine goodwill and interest and offers out of duty or perceived obligation, as your driver is likely to feel that he is a host and he must treat you as an honored guest, despite any inconvenience or even financial expense that this might cause.
As a guest, you will not be allowed to pay any of the expenses, and even efforts to contribute something for gas and toll fares will most likely be delightfully refused. Be thankful for this, as Japan's expressway tolls are extremely high: for example, the trip from Tokyo to Osaka costs around �8000 in tolls alone. Instead, if you really want to thank your hosts, remember that Japan is the country of gifts and return gifts called okaeshi: it might be a good idea to carry some small souvenirs of your country or hometown, like a country pin, or cookies (wrapped of course) or even an airline bottle of liquor. With this you will have really sealed a wonderful human interchange, and you may even make a friend for life.
Update: Toll fares have been reduced significantly on weekends and nullified in a few places on weekdays. Traffic is already up 50%. What does that mean? 50% more potential rides!
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Hitchhiking in Japan
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Hitchhiking in Japan - updated May 2024
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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.