c199b88e_Hitchhiking_in_Japan_Log__Highlights_of_trip
[Date] 06/15/07 [Destination] Shiojiri City Nagano, Soka City Saitama (near Tokyo) [Distance] 600KM [# Vehicles] 11 [Highlights of trip] 
Two angels who brought me on my way. Mr. Shimada, a YMCA Chairman Family from Okinawa This was one of the best hitchhiking trips I had in some time with very time spent little waiting for rides. I just turned 57 and began to have doubts recently whether people would continue to pick me up or not. God really encouraged me this trip and I think I have still a good many years to go before I "retire". :-) At an expressway parking area, a man saw me holding the paper sign of my destination of Nagano and so he offered me a ride. At first I thought he would take me to the parking area closest to my destination, but he happened to be going to the very city I needed to go and so took me right to door of my friend's home! I consider this a little miracle because it was about 200 kilometers away! On Sunday June 17, 2007, a Christian and the chairman of a local YMCA, Mr. Shimada, took me about 100 kilometers on my way to Saitama near Tokyo. It turns out that he met a member of my Christian fellowship about 10 years previously and had just thought of that person the previous Wednesday. I consider it to be one of God's setups for him to pick me up at this time! Mr. Shimada so far has been the only Japanese Christian I met hitchhiking who asked to have a word of prayer with me just before leaving him. He prayed for my safe journey and I prayed for the speech he was the give about the subject of miracles at the YMCA conference. After returning home, I was able to get Mr. Shimada back in touch with his friend. A family from Okinawa took me to the famous "Electric Town" of Tokyo known as Akihabara. I had intended to go to Akihabara to buy a used computer part after finishing my business in Soka City near Tokyo, but because the Okinawa family happened to pass though Akihabara, they saved me time and transportation money. From Akihabara I took a short train ride the rest to my destination. Among the others who picked me up on the return trip to Niigata, were a family from South Korea, 3 young men, a mother of 4 and grandmother of 6 who was raised in a movie theater and loved the classics (10 Commandments, Ben Hur), 2 young ladies, a manager of a drive in food chain, and two businessmen. Because one of the rides was going to Toyama (200 kilometers south of Niigata city), I returned to Niigata by a route that was 100 kilometers longer than the one I normally take. However I also ended up 100 kilometers closer to home. Though I knew it would take longer, I wasn't in a hurry and knew I would meet more people by taking the longer route giving me more opportunities to share the Message of Christ.
Hitchhiking in Japan Log
Highlights of trip