Honshu Japan.
The red line marks the approximent area I travelled.
Click the map to see an enlargement
I traveled to 3 different areas of Japan: The Kanto area near Tokyo, the Tokkai area near Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka, and the far northern prefecture of Aomori in Tohoku. Twenty four vehicles took me approximately 1526 kilometers (954 miles). One driver was a church pastor, the first pastor who picked me up in over a year of hitchhiking. Two of the drivers sacrificed their time to take me out of their way to locations that best suited me to continue my journey. Since I've been keeping records of my travels from Aug.2, 2003, to date I hitchhiked exactly 219 days in 813 vehicles a little over 40,000 kilometers or 25,000 miles - the circumference of the world at the equator. (See more stats)
Nov. 26: On the way to Tokyo, a young single couple took me as far as Echigokawaguchi parking area on the Kan'etsu expressway. Echigokawaguchi is very close to the center of the Chuetsu earthquake of Niigata which occurred on Oct. 23, 2004. Because it is a remote mountainous area, relatively few were killed. If an earthquake of the same magnitude occured in the Kanto area of Tokyo, hundreds of thousands would perish. The Kan'etsu expressway and Route 17 are the main roads to Tokyo from Niigata. Both of them were impassible for several weeks after the earthquake. At the time of this post, construction work is still underway to make the expressway level as before.
Echigokawachi receives some of the heaviest snows in Japan. the photo was taken toward the end of the winter of 2005.
The young couple seemed most interested in what I had to say about evolution, creation, God, Jesus and the Bible. The man especially really seemed to want to listen to me. He had seen the movie, "The Matrix" I like to use this film as a parallel to the world that most people perceive to be reality but is really the deception. In the very short time I have to talk with the drivers, I hope and pray that God will plant at least a tiny seed of faith or an idea that will grow and inspire them later to do their own research as to whether these things I share with them be so or not. I told them that if what I am saying is true, millions and millions of people are living in ignorance. They were speechless.
At Echigokawaguchi Service Area, Mr. And Mrs. Endo picked me up and took me as far as Akagikougen which is a little over half way of my journey to Tokyo. Mr. Endo shared about an acquaintance who was dying of cancer and decided to spend the last days of his life mountain climbing in Switzerland. As a result of spending time in the beautiful mountains in clean fresh air and beautiful skies, he got well! Mr. Endo shared our spiritual and mental attitude often has a great deal to do with our physical health. I couldn't agree more!
The next driver took me all the way to Urawa Station in Saitama Prefecture close to Tokyo. From there I took a train and went to Chiba where I spent the evening with my close friend David from Canada.
The next morning bright and early I hopped on a train that took me to Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture, close to Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately because of the clouds I could not see Fuji. It is best viewed in January and February when the air is dryer in the winter. The name "Atami" literally means "Hot Sea" It is relatively warm during the winter.
After my business in Atami was over, I hitchhiked in two cars back to Tokyo as far as Ueno station. Tokyo is so large there are at least 6 major centers that have large train stations with many connecting points. They are: Ikebukero, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinnagawa, Tokyo and Ueno. Trains from Ueno go to the North and I was heading to Tsukuba in Ibaragi. Tsukuba is were a major science exhibition was held in 1985. I went to Tsukuba to help fix my friend's PCs.
On Nov. 29 my next destination is Misawa City of Aomori Prefecture, about 490 kilometers (306 miles) straight north of Tsukuba. Misawa is the location of a large US Air Force base. This is quite a distance to hitchhike in one day and especially when going to the northern area of Honshu, and so I started earlier than usual which was around 8AM. The traffic is much less past the city of Morioka in Iwate Prefecture. (See map)
A Japanese pastor who spoke fluent English took me part way. He is a pastor of an independent church, and seems to be a true brother in Christ, but was woefully ignorant of many things I told him about the New World Order and specific plans and actions of the Anti-christ's people. He said that Japanese Christian leaders parrot what "Christian" (really Illuminist) leaders in the USA are saying, and take on their attitudes and support their policies. Sad. The pastored seemed to receive what I had to say. I hope he does his own research and learns more to warn and teach his congregation. But in spite of his lack of knowledge about the N.W.O, it was interesting that he does not follow Scofield's doctrines of pre-tribulation rapture - a false teaching that many churches and American Christians follow.
On the Tohoku expressway which is the main highway going to Aomori, it both directions drivers dropped me off at the Sambongi PA. This particular parking area is has restroom facilities but no restaurant which means relatively few cars stop there. I try to avoid getting off at such a small parking area if at all possible. The driver was very concerned that I find my next ride and so he asked another drive for me. The man agreed to take me further! Thank the good Lord for His supply!
It was good weather when I left Tsukuba but raining off and on around the halfway point to Aomori. I was thankful I carried my umbrella with me. It sure came in handy finally. I was looking for a ride at the Shiwa Service area, the largest expressway service area just before Morioka. Getting past Morioka was the hardest part of my trip because Morioka is a large town and most traffic stops there. After about an hour approaching cars with my sign and thumbing, a kind English speaking man offered to take me as far as Morioka.
Our conversation began in Japanese but when I perceived that the driver actively studies English, I began to speak to him in English. Speaking English to the Japanese is more for their sake than mine. They pay a lot of money just for English lessons and I want to return the favor to them for picking me up by giving them a free English conversation lesson.
It was raining hard when we reached Morioka. There was no shelter for me if I got off at the interchange exit so the driver offered to take me to a service area past Morioka! He took me a further 25 kilometers (16 miles) out of his way to the next larger service area called Iwatezan. This was excellent because it was already beginning to get dark (around 5PM in the winter in Japan) and Iwatezan is just before another major junction. I needed to go the direction of Hachinohe toward the east. My plan was to go as far as Hachinohe and take a train the rest of the way to Mizawa.
In almost no time I met a lady who saw my sign and said that she and her husband would only go as far as Ichinohe on the expressway. When I asked of their destination, she said Towada City. I rejoiced because this was an excellent point for me to go! Towada is even closer to Misawa than Hachinohe is! I had the option of going first to the town of Shimoda to meet Simon, the person I was to spend the next couple days with. He was teaching English lessons there at the time. When the lady's husband heard that, he offered to take me out of their way to Shimoda. It took probably around an extra 40 minutes of their time.
My return trip to Niigata was even more adventurous! On Dec. 3 from 8:30AM I stood at the entrance of the Tohoku expressway near for a little over an hour in the snow. It had been snowing steadily from the previous evening - the first snow of the winter. When I'm suffering out in the snow with cold hands, (no gloves) waiting for the first driver to take pity on me and offer me a ride, I comfort myself knowing that there are wealthy men who spend big bucks to climb mountains in the Alps or Himalayas who suffer greater privations in far harsher conditions. And to get where? A mountain peak which leads nowhere! They have the feeling of achievement that they accomplished something the average person does not. I can say likewise when I hitchhike and also get somewhere. :-)
After an hour the first driver took me as far as Morioka. I was sure glad to get in that car and have a couple hours to warm up my poor hands! Morioka is 175 kilometers (109 miles) from Aomori. Because of the snow the driver could not drive as fast as normal. Morioka was sunny upon arrival and a little warmer than Aomori.
However the weather conditions were not ideal to travel that day, and it was snowing at other parking areas I stopped at further south. I had hoped to return all the way home to Niigata the same day, but this was really stretching my faith. Returning home in one day meant that I would have to cross a mountain range between the Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The last time I tried to do that I only got as far as Aizukwamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture. This time I didn't even make it that far! Because of heavy snow the expressway was closed from Shiroishi to Fukushima City and so the driver, Mr. Takahashi, was forced to take Route 4 instead. This is a normal road and was heavily congested. He offered to take me as far as Fukushima station. From there I was on my own. I knew that Fukushima was the end of the line of my journey that day. It was already dark. I had no mind to risk hitchhiking in the snow and cold trying to cross a mountain range at night. But neither did I have much money on me. The average hotel costs at least $55 a night and I was a little short of that amount.
Mr. Takahashi asked me if I didn't mind stopping first at his mother's house. Of course I was not in a hurry anymore so that was no problem. Mr. Takahashi's mother is in her 80s. She seemed surprised to see her son bring over a foreigner, but received us warmly. I commented how nice her shoji doors looked. She seemed appreciate hearing this from a foreigner as the shoji door is uniquely a Japanese creation.
I was hoping that Fukushima station would be open all night and nice and warm so I could camp out on a bench somewhere. After a a few minutes of exploration, it looked pretty unfeasible to try to sleep there. There wasn't a bench in an enclosed heated room that was open all night. The Lord spoke to my heart saying that He wanted me to save my health rather than my money and sleep in a good warm place in a bed. And so I set off to look for a hotel.
The first hotel wanted 6500 yen or about $55. I told them I was 500 yen short and asked if there wasn't another hotel in town. The clerk pulled out a map and showed me the location of another hotel just down the road. The second hotel wasn't as nice as the first, but the manager was friendly and spoke good English. I asked him for his cheapest room and he said 4500 yen! Yippee! I had a good rest that night in a clean warm bed in a room with central heating - something my own home doesn't have. Someday soon I hope to post an article on this web site about how poorly Japanese houses are heated in the winter.
The next day was fine weather! Nevertheless I started early. I had very little money left, nowhere near enough to take me any reasonable distance home, and the most difficult leg of my journey would be to catch a ride from a car on the Ban'estsu expressway which crosses the mountain range between Fukushima prefecture and Niigata prefecture. Most of the traffic is going south toward Tokyo with hardly anybody going west to Niigata. After waiting about an hour at the Adatara Service Area, a truck with Niigata license plates pulled up offering me a ride! Not only was he going to Niigata, but to the very town in Niigata that I live in. And not only that, he even went of of his way a bit and took me to a spot only a few minutes walking distance from home!!
The man was about 36 years old and was driving a large trailer truck. He is the president of a trucking company that works for the post office. It didn't look like a postal truck on the outside, but the cargo was packages. I was a bit concerned for our safety because this poor man only slept about 3 hours the previous night. He says that 3 hours a day is all the rest he gets now since he started his company. That is all he lives for, his company. He can't spend much time with his wife and children but his satisfied only to support them. I offered him and his wife some literature about the Bible, but he wasn't interested. He said nobody has time to read. Such is the life of the workaholic Japanese. :(
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