From Feb. 8 to 17, 2004, I spent 10 days on the road hitchhiking from Niigata to Kyushu and back traveling approximately 2710 kilometers or 1688 miles. Thirty vehicles picked me up. Among these were 5 trucks. Nine of the 30 drivers were women unaccompanied by a man or 30% of the rides. This is 16% higher than my average! Three of the cars contained small children. Six were married couples and 3 young lovers. Three drivers were presidents of small companies. One driver was among the rarest type of people in this country -- a Bible believing Christian! Two of the drivers were foreigners. Of the 27 Japanese drivers, 2 spoke English.
The map below shows route marked with the dark red line starting from the North in Niigata Prefecture down to Tokyo. You can see the line broken in Tokyo because I took trains. It is difficult to hitchhike within the big cities and so to save time I take public transportation.
Day 1: I went to to Tokyo where I spent the night. Normally I would not travel south via Tokyo. It much closer to take the expressway on the Sea of Japan side to Fukui and then cross the mountains to Maebara, and pass through Kyoto to get to Osaka. But because of the heavy snows falling on the Sea of Japan coast when I left on Feb. 8, it would have been wet and miserable hitchhiking that direction. So I opted to travel via Tokyo where the weather is often clear in the winter. The East coast of Japan bordering the Pacific Ocean is similar to the West Coast of the USA in climate. The Sea of Japan side is often cloudy and snowing or raining in the Winter.
Kotae Yoshikawa (right) and his girlfriend Mika take me from Akagi in Gunma to Miyoshi parking area just north of Tokyo. Kotae is training to become an actor.
Day 2: I hitchhiked from Tokyo to Osaka on the Tomei expressway and photographed the most beautiful volcanic mountain in Japan - Mount Fuji. Winter is the best time to see it. Fuji is normally hid by clouds in summer.
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Yuka and Yui, both only 19 years old, picked me up at Yoro SA in Gifu and took me to as far as Kyoto.
From Kyoto a man took me practically to the door of my friend's home in Osaka where I spent the next whole day teaching him computer skills.
Day 4: I traveled to Kita-Kyushu passing Kobe, Okayama, and Hiroshima.
Hiroyuki and Yukari (photo below) took me from Osaka on the Chugoku and Sanyo expressway to a parking area in Hyogo Prefecture a little past Himeji, a distance about 100 KM. Hiroyuki is a scientist. We had a great talk debunking the false teaching of the theory of evolution.
Kazunori and Kumiko, a married couple, took me from Hyogo to Okayama, a distance about 70 KM.
A Christian businessman took drove me over 350KM. His partner, though not a Christian, was very well-informed about the NWO and its plans. I stayed with Caleb and his wife Choko and family. Caleb was raised in New York City but you wouldn't think so if you heard him speak. Before coming to Japan he lived in Australia for a few years. Caleb is a scholar of the Syriac language. I hear that Mel Gibson's new film, "The Passion of the Christ" is all in Syriac with subtitles.
 "Australian" Caleb and Japanese Choko with daughter Manna |
 A page of a Syriac Bible. Cool script, isn't it? |
Day 5: Traveled to Fukuoka city where I met Ben, a friend I stayed with in Tacoma Washington in 1978. I haven't seen him since then! The photo shows Ben with his wife Clarrisa.
Day 6: Went to Oita where I visited friends and taught them computer.
Day 7: Hitched back to Osaka. It was slow going at first as I got caught in the rain and strong winds in Northern Kyushu.
Day 8: Spent a day in Osaka after which I took a train to Kyoto. It was relatively cheap. I don't like to pay more than the equivalent of $10 to get anywhere. More than that and I hitchhike. I stayed with Joseph and Rose in Kyoto
Day 9: Hitched back to Tokyo in only 2 rides! The longest ride, a rich Ginza shop owner, took me 400 KM or about 250 miles - the record distance of a single ride since keeping statistics since Aug. 2003!
Day 10: Met Barney Hill, an old friend I haven't seen since 1984! Barney has come back to the faith of Jesus and is reading his Bible again! Later this day I traveled the last leg of my journey home. A really nice (and wealthy) man from Pakistan took me from Gunma to Niigata in a single ride. It was an hour wait at Maebashi to meet him, but certainly worth it. He showed me a music video from Pakistan. What a beautiful country it is with beautiful people! You would wonder why any Pakistani would leave such a place to become a taxi driver on frigid windy Chicago roads! They apparently think they will make more money that way to bring back home after retirement.
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