Hitchhiking!

Over the last few days I’ve been doing a ton of hitchhiking here in Japan.   I haven’t really elaborated on what it’s like to hitchhike here so I’ll give it a bash.

Me hitchhiking on the Yamanami Highway in central Kyushu.

Firstly, I embarassingly have to admit that hitchhiking is one of most mentally challenging things I have ever done.  Without hesitation, I have skydived, bungee jumped (the highest in the world), white water rafted, etc.  NONE of that compared to the resistance I felt in my body the first time I took a deep breathe and put my thumb out into the air.  It’s a vulnerable feeling that I can’t really describe.

Nonetheless, I did it.  And the last three days (of hitchhiking) have turned out to be 3 of my best in Japan.  I’ll start from the top.

6AM my alarm clock started buzzing in my Kumamoto hostel.  With a quick look at the map, I decided that the best course of action would be to take a brief 20 minute train ride into the countryside where I could easily access a highway to begin my hitchhiking.

I walked 3 or 4 kilometres to find a suitable spot to stand, and put out my thumb.  The look on the faces of the Japanese drivers in passing cars was one of utter disbelief.   Hitchhiking is completely unheard of in Japan.  No one hitchhikes.  I was undoubtedly the first hitchhiker they had ever seen.  “How do they know what it means when someone is standing on the side of the road with their thumb in the air?”, you ask.  American Movies.  That’s the only reason they know what the wierd white dude is doing on the side of the road.

20 minutes later, a big white van came to a screeching halt.  “Doko made?”  the drivers asked while popping his head out the drivers side window.  “Aso ni ikitidais” I replied.  He motioned for me to get in, and we were off.  His name was “Massa” and he was a 30 year old security camera maintenence man who was on his way to work.  Super cool guy.

Massa

After getting to Aso.  I explored the famous Aso Volcano.  They bill it as “the only active volcano in the world that tourists can look down safely”.  How safely is debatable.  A few years back the volcano hiccuped and killed 3 tourists standing 2km away.  Here are the pics of my trip up to the volcano:

The couple I hitchhiked to the volcano with. He was a retired business owner in the pulp and paper industry and she was a teacher.

Comforting

These are the concrete bunkers we were instructed to run into if the volcano erupted. Also comforting.

The volcano.

After that,  I took a bus back into Aso, the town where I was staying.  I wanted to try raw horse meat (the delicase in this part of Japan) so I walked down to the local butcher and picked some up.  While at the butcher shop, I struck up a conversation with the butcher, who also happened to play guitar.  He asked me if I wanted to go to the local onsen (hot spring) with him that night.  Sounded like a good time so I accepted and it turned out to be a ton of fun.  While we were BSing in the hotspring, Yoshi (the butcher) told me of how he moved to Los Angeles at the young age of 19 to find fame as a rock and roll guitarist.  He spent 7 years playing the clubs in Hollywood and is still personal friends with many of the guitar greats in the world that he met while living in the US.  Among others, he is still close friends with Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbournes long time guitarist), CC Deville from Poison, and the guitarist from Ratt (can’t remember his name at the moment).  My jaw hit the floor.  He was personal friends with some of the guitarists that I grew up idolizing.  How could this be?!?!  I run into this guy in a butcher shop in rural Japan???  How random is that.

Zakk Wylde

He then invited me to his house where he has his garage set up to record music.  We sat in his garage and jammed for 5 hours.  5 HOURS.  This guy was a world class guitarist so it was a real treat for me.  I was like a kid in a candy shop.   Here is a video of us jamming to Blue Rodeo’s “5 Days In May”:

After exchanging gifts with Yoshi (a must do in Japan), me getting horse jerky and him getting Canadian gourmet tea, we said our goodbyes.

My gift of horse jerky. It was much like beef except maybe a bit better…….. (kidding Grandpa Goodings. Don’t disown me for saying that)

I still can’t get over how fun that night was.  Something I’ll always remember.

On the road early. 6:00 AM, February 24th.

The next morning, I was on the road hitchhiking by 7 AM with aims of reaching Yufuin by Midday.  Here are some of the people I hitchhiked with to get there:

Hitaya: A professional tennis coach.

The Isaka’s: She is a Japanese teacher, and he teaches business at a local university.

Kaisaka: A professional driving instructor

Onward and upward.  I rolled into the next town, Yufuin, at exactly noon today and after visiting a local onsen, I’m now primed to walk into town and do some exploring.  Stayed tuned for further updates…….