Lessons in hitch hiking.

While Japan feels quite expensive coming from China or even Korea, it has actually proven to be a cheaper place to travel than most countries in Europe. A decent dinner can be had for 5 to 10 bucks, a lift ticket at the largest resort in the country costs about 35 USD right now, and around 45 at the peak of the season.

This is not the right place to hitch hike!

However, transportation is a MAJOR cost. A 2-week rail pass while set you back about $480 (500 Sfr) and also individual train stretches make Switzerland's rail system seem like a bargain. So, here's a toast to trying hitch hiking!

I am now in Tokyo, and have hitched from Fukuoka (where the ferry from Korea arrived) to Nagasaki, to Hiroshima, to Osaka/Kyoto, to the Nagano ski area, and finally to Tokyo. While I wouldnt have done this alone, but teamed up with another traveler, Daniel, I have to say that it was beautifully simple and incredibly fun. We have gotten rides with all kinds of friendly, interesting people that I would otherwise never have met and have ridden in everything from 18-wheelers, to trucks carrying giant loads of soy sauce, to a fancy mercedes benz, to a cute little hybrid. Japan is full of friendly people!

Warming up to hitch hike in Fukuoka

The most difficult stretch was starting out from Fukuoka (although having the nice police men give us a ride to a better place to hitch hike helped! See picture!), and it took us several hours to get a ride - and when we finally got a ride, the fun/nice/cool person - Hi, Ken! - was going south to Nagasaki instead of north to Hiroshima (two cities about 6 hours apart by car). But, why not see Nagasaki, right?