c199b88e_Hitchhiking_in_Japan_Log__Highlights_of_trip
[Date] 11/15/07 to 11/18/07 [Destination] Nagoya [Distance] 580KM [# Vehicles] 8 [Highlights of trip] 
Miyuki and Saki. They took me from Gifu Hashima to Owari Ichinomiya SA I got a ride from a truck driver fairly quickly to Midoriko PA on the Nagano expressway, but after waiting for over an hour for my next ride, I thought to abort traveling to Nagoya via the expressway and take the low road, Route 19 instead. And so I threw out a "fleece" (Judges 6:37-40), that is, if I didn't get a ride by 11:30AM or within the next 10 minutes, I would leave the expressway parking area and walk to the regular highway about a mile up the road. God honored my fleece and a driver offered me a ride exactly 10 minutes later! However he was going the wrong direction after the junction to the Chuo expressway, meaning toward Tokyo instead of Nagano. Nevertheless I hopped in the car knowing that I could get off at a larger expressway service area near Lake Suwa just a few kilometers past the junction and walk around to the other side of the expressway to parking area that heads in the opposite direction. The Suwa SA on the Chuo expressway is on the side of a mountain, and so to get to the other side I had to walk a couple hundred feet down the mountain, walk down the street about half a mile and then back up the mountain to get to an underpass of the expressway that leads to the parking area with traffic heading to Nagoya. I had to climb a 1.5 meter concrete wall to get out of the first parking area. After a few minutes, a 27 year old man, Mr. Yoshii, saw me hitchhiking and offered me a ride to Nagoya. He was on his way to Kyoto. He said that he was only taking the expressway part way and the regular road the rest. This would mean it would take over twice as long to get to my destination, but I wasn't in a hurry and had plenty of time. Mr. Yoshii was unfamiliar with the road, and I was so into conversation with him that we both missed his intended exit point from the expressway! This meant that he had to take the expressway a little further than intended, but that was OK with me. It was interesting to realize that if I had taken the low road, meaning Route 19 from the beginning, I might have met Mr. Yoshii there too. Route 19 was his intended route of travel and he may not have missed his expressway exit point if I had not been riding with him from Suwa SA. On the way back from Nagoya I spotted a young couple hitchhiking at the Enakyo service area. They were going the same direction I was. I walked up beside them, and pulled out of my bag the paper sign that shows the drivers my destination. They both laughed! It is a very rare thing indeed to run into other hitchhikers in this country. Often I tell people that hitchhiking is easy in Japan because I have no competition. In this case I would be brothering the other hitchhikers if I continued to stand where I was, and so I told them I would move further up the parking area which would give them the first chance to get a ride. They were picked up before I was. While waiting for a ride at Enakyo is the midst of the mountains of central Japan, I was inspired to review the wonderful Psalm 19 and can now again quote it by heart. It was a real spiritual high to review it in the midst of His beautiful creation. I got as far as Joestsu City which is about four fifths of my way home from Nagoya and took a train the rest of the way because of the inclement weather. This time of year in areas bordering the Sea of Japan it's frequently stormy with lots of rain and sometimes snow. It did snow in the mountains of Nagano when I passed through them during the final leg of this trip.
Hitchhiking in Japan Log
Highlights of trip