Hitchhiking in Japan: Kagoshima (Ebino) to Tottori (Daisen)
9th of May, 2025.
We wake up to a pouring rain day. I’m not so sure how it would be up in the mountains, but if it was to be just like this, I’m glad that we came down here yesterday. I would be miserable if we ended up camping up there, without any proper food, and then simply have to come back down today morning, without visiting anything else.
Today is my first day heading back North, to a province called Tottori, where I will be volunteering in a sustainable project to protect the Japanese Giant Salamander. Well, at least that’s what I thought. Anyway, we stay in our tents for some time, but then realizing that there’s not much to do, right after breakfast we get the courage and, one by one again, dismantle our tents under the rain. Luckily, there’s a covered area not far from it, so it’s not that bad.
And then we start the hard process of trying to hitchhike in this rest area. There’s the farmer’s market, which is quite busy, and a gas station not far from here, so it’s not an entire disaster. We must stay inside the main door thought, because that’s the only place we can stay visible to everyone without getting wet. We have two different signs: Miles has our previous Kirishima sign, as he plans to visit the city, then heading to Kagoshima after, from where he will take a ferry to Okinawa; and I have one which reads Tottori.
It takes a bit over 2 hours until someone finally takes Miles. Funny phrase. Laugh. I thought it would be easier for him to get someone faster than me, as Kirishima is really close by. Only when this happen is that we realize that we must say goodbye right now, and Loki knows when we will see each other again. And even though it is so weird and sad, I just cannot really get the feeling as I will not see him tomorrow. Isn’t that weird? Well, I’m weird. Anyway, it’s sad and as we hug and all, the seniour lady who’s part of the couple taking him, just goes like: “Owmmm…”. How cute!
Perhaps another thirty or forty minutes passes until somebody helps me. Kyoko and her husband are going to the next big town, and they are travelling with their two little poodles who are adorable! And I cannot believe that I finally got a lift with people who have dogs. We had seen them everywhere in the Service Areas, but nobody with dogs had picked us up. Now, here I am with Haru and Noel, two lovely poodles. We are all cuddling and love, and even though Noel is a shy boy, he stills let me play with him, and licks my face. Haru is less shy and even lays her head on my lap and touches my hand when I stop cuddling her, simply asking for more. Kyoko’s husband can speak English so I manage to explain to him a bit about my travels and my journey with Miles in Japan. Kyoko is an adorable woman, and I am happy to meet her and spend this time with them both. I ask them to drop me off in a SA, and so they do it. Later on, Kyoko would write me a lovely email, where among many other kind words, she would also mention that Japanese saying which I like so much “Ichi go Ichi eh”, which talks about the important of once in a life time encounters.
I keep on hitchhiking until 19.00 hours and then I give up. My sign still reads Tottori, which is quite far from here, but I’m simply hopingg that people will understand that they can take me even if it’s just for a few hours driving.
As I take my things inside and sit down by one of the tables, a young man approaches me and ask if I’m still trying to go to Tottori. I explain everything to him and he tells me he’s going to Fukuoka, and can take me there if I want. Yay! Yes, please! Fukuoka is about two hours driving from here and many people had told me already that it’s a good spot for getting longer lifts further North, so that’s perfect. I can just camp in a SA for tonight and tomorrow morning I’m ready to go.
Masaya is a young Engineer and he also loves travelling. He has been to 10 other countries already, so we talk about our travels experiences and expectations for the future. It’s a very nice conversation and it helps not getting worried about the heavy rain which is pouring. It’s a real thunder storm now and even though we have to drive slower and more carefully, we arrive at the SA in no time.
I cannot believe in how lucky I am about this SA. It has a 7-Eleven! And a Starbucks so I can use the Wi-FI here easier than in other SA where you have to register to use the Wi-Fi. There’s also a very nice and flat area for me to camp. And the bathrooms are immense! Seriously, there’s about 40 toilet cabins inside a gigantic area, and it’s all very clean and fancy. The only slight issue is the rain, which is still going. I check the weather prediction and it says that at certain time it will stop for a few minutes, and miraculously this time the prediction is very accurate, so I have that time to pitch my tent. I get some noodles from 7-Eleven, eat them outside, at Starbucks’ tables, where I also use the Wi-Fi to message my host and some other people. I go to sleep soon after that.
Next morning I think I make a terrible mistake. But again, you will never know, perhaps things wouldn’t be any different if you had gone in a different direction, right? After breakfast and making a new sign, I start hitchhiking by standing near to the entrance for the toilets. Everybody is passing by me and what could seen like a good thing at first, might have got people confused and that might be the reason why I waited here for more than 3 hours. People were still been very kind and willing to help, like I got four different bottle drinks, as green tea, juice and water, all from people who simply handled them to me. Just before I left this spot and went towards the exit of the SA, where all the cars have to pass by to leave, a lovely seniour lady, who couldn’t speak English but was adorable, gave me a sandwich and two onigiris. Wow!
So, yeah, after I’m in this new spot for about 20 minutes, Kin stops for me. He is going to Hiroshima, which is on my way to Tottori. Kin is a journalist and he writes about social problems. He’s going to Hiroshima to write about something, and then he comes back to Fukuoka, where he lives. We have some nice conversation but I also take some naps on the way.
Unfortunately, the SA where Kin drops me off is empty. It’s more like a parking lot than an actual SA. Luckily, the third people to arrive to this parking lot and with whom I talked are Yoshuo and Toru, a lovely couple who accept to help me and take me to Miyoshi. She is a web designer and does decorative finger nails. Her hair is gorgeous and she’s very stylish too. They drop me off at the train / bus station in Miyoshi. I even check the train options to Nawa, the train station by the place here I’m staying, near a small town called Daisen, but I can’t find anything, so I carry on hitchhiking.
I make a new sign which now reads Yonago (the biggest nearby town of where I’m going), and start walking towards outside the town. The place where I get is not bad but soon enough a man who was dropping off some stuff nearby tells me this is not a good spot for people going to Yonago, and immediately tells me to get in that he will take me to a better place. Cool!
He takes me very near to the expressway, and from here it should be easier to get a lift. That’s if it wasn’t almost 19.00 hours. Damn it! When it finally gets dark I quit and start looking for a place to camp. There’s nothing around apart from one big house which looks more like a temple. There’s some lights on but nobody answers when I ring the bell, so I climb up a forest nearby the house, and in a bit slope area, I have my tent against a tree so it doesn’t roll down, and here I camp for tonight. It’s a quiet forest and I don’t hear any animals or really anything at night.
I start really early next morning (not that I had a choice anyway), and soon enough Shinobu stops for me. She is going to visit her mum and also do some work at her farm. She’s coming back from some hiking and has her backpack and some equipment in the back of her car. She’s a lovely lady and drops me off half way to Yonago, in a small but cute SA.
As I’m leaving the bathroom, a group of seniour ladies is gathering around my backpacks. They get real surprised when they see me, and I wonder if it’s due to the fact that I’m a woman. They are very excited to talk to me and I feel glad for that. They are so sweet! They are going in a hike with a small group of people, which I think it’s so awesome!
The station is closed until 9.00 a.m., so I wait to get some hot water and eat the onigiris which Kin gave me yesterday. As I do that, a couple comes to talk with me and tells me I can come with them to Yonago. Yay! That’s so great that I don’t even finish my second onigiri, only finishing my coffee and going to the toilet before joining them.
They are both very nice and stylish. They are going to spend today and tomorrow in Yonago, and then coming back. That’s so cool! They give me a bottle of water and a can of Starbucks’ latte coffee, which is the very first one I ever drank. They like to hear about my travels and all and when they drop me of in front of the main Yonago train station, we take a photo before they leave.
I plan to visit this town while volunteering in Daisen, so I get to the Tourist Information Centre and gather some free maps. I try and ask for a marker in a 7-Eleven, and get to meet the first and only rude Japanese woman during my travels in Japan. Then I ask for a marker to the lovely ladies from the Tourist Information Centre, and they are not only happy to help but also excited about the fact that I’m hitchhiking.
As I’m still walking towards outside Yonago, a car stops and they tell me I can get in. I think they are simply going to Daisen, but on the way, Muta and his father, Masaiuki, tell me that they have some free time and will drive me to Nawa. It’s a 20 minutes drive so not that bad, and I think it’s very nice of them. They talk with a woman on the way (possibly the mother…?) and explain why they are not back home yet. The reason: me. Laugh. We also take a photo after they drop me off by Nawa Train Station, and after a few minutes walking, I arrive to my volunteer work place. As Admiral Ackbar would say: “It’s a trap!”
10 Years Around the World 