Hitchhiking in Kyushu

Japan – June 2019

The end of my stay in Japan Takuya and I spend travelling around Kyushu, the western most of the main islands. We meet up in Fukuoka and decide on a rough route for the coming 2 weeks. Our plan is to travel south with a detour to Nagasaki and end in Kagoshima. From there Takuya flies back home to Osaka and I return to Switzerland with a layover in Tokyo. As both of us are on a budget, taking bullet trains is out of question for this trip.Takuya suggests that we’d mainly use busses and a ferry from Shimabara to Kumamoto. He also casually drops the hitchhiking as an option, which I acknowledge but don’t pick up on.

A few days later on the ferry to Kumamoto our conversation somehow turns to hitchhiking again and I ask Takuya about his experience with it in Japan. He tells me that he’s never tried it himself, but he has seen people holding up signs at the streetside before. A couple minutes later he suddenly goes: “I just realized that most of the hitchhikers I saw were foreigners. I bet I’d be much more lucky to catch a ride with you than if I were by myself.” And so it’s decided. We are going to hitchhike the 176 kilometers from Kumamoto to Kagoshima.

After an interesting night at a Manga Café, we get breakfast at 7/11 and head towards National Route 266, as this is the main road leading out of the city to the southbound expressway E3. Finding the right spot to flag down cars in a bustling city is not as easy as you might expect. You have to consider the direction of traffic, street lights, space for cars to stop and the list goes on. We finally find a good spot at the main road, but close to a narrow driveway. Takuya gets out the sheets of paper and a marker we bought at Daiso the night before and writes 鹿児島 (Kagoshima) on one of the pages. I take the paper and hold it out into the street. We are very pleased with ourselves and expect someone to pick us up in no time.

The first 10 minutes were quite exciting, but after the first hour passed we were almost ready to give up. Car after car drove past us and nobody even made an attempt to slow down to read our destination. We’ve tried to spell out the characters on 3 seperate pages, to make it easier to read, but still nobody stopped. So we decide to walk further down the street to find a better spot. About 30 minutes later we still haven’t been able to catch a ride, nor have we found a good spot to wait while hiding from the midday sun. But Takuya locates a Tempura restaurant and so we take a little lunch break.

After lunch we return to our original spot up the street. It’s a little closer to the station too, in case we really don’t find a lift. With this back up plan in mind, we continue to stretch out thumbs and sign and just 10 minutes later a minivan drives up to us and actually stops. We both can’t quite believe it and Takuya asks me if we should give it a go. “Obviously!”, I reply and he walks up to the drivers’ window and quickly talks to the woman in Japanese. He tells me that they’re only headed to a shopping mall about 13 kilometers south, but from there we could walk to the expressway and try to catch another ride.

We put out backpacks into the trunk, while one of the lady’s two daughters switches to the front seat to make space for us in the back. The three of them are very interested in learning more about us and our journey. The older daughter asks a lot of questions and is super happy about being able to practice her English. The 20-minute ride flies by and in the parking lot of the mall we say goodbye. A short walk later we arrive at the access road to the expressway and once again set up our sign. This time we don’t have to be as patient. Only a little while later a nice lady stops and tells us she couldn’t take us all the way to Kagoshima, but at least a good hour south.

This time I get into the passenger seat, with her pomeranian “Momo” sleeping at my feet. The woman tells us that she picks up hitchhikers whenever she gets a chance, as she thinks it’s a great way to brush up her Karma. She also gives us lots of recommendations for food to try while in Kyushu. When she finally drops us off at a big expressway rest spot, I am wishing she would have taken us all the way to Kagoshima. But so we buy some refreshments at the little shopping centre and then Takuya goes on the hunt for our next driver. While we are very pretty sure that we will find someone here who’s heading to Kagoshima, we’re still a little worried about the hour we’d arrive, as we haven’t yet booked our accommodation for the night. 

Just when Takuya gets tired of asking around and even considers teaching me the necessary phrases in Japanese, a lady walks up to us and asks if we were going to Kagoshima. She lives there and has plenty of space in her car to take us all the way. We happily accept her offer and help her to pack some shopping bags and her baby into the minivan. During the 1 hour drive we get more recommendations for typical dishes to try, as well as some sightseeing tipps. When we make it to the city, she takes us on a little tour and finally drops us off at a guesthouse her husband suggested when she asked him where we could stay. 

In conclusion: Hitchhiking in Japan is definitely doable, even more so for foreigners and women. All 3 of the ladies who kindly gave us a lift, mentioned that they felt safe because we were obviously travellers. Speaking Japanese (or having someone with you who does ;)) is a big plus too!