Hullo-

I am thinking about possibly incorporating hitchhiking into my trip to Japan when it happens.
I have read the guide by Ferguson and it says Japanese people will rarely pick up fellow Japanese hitchhikers.
Can you think of any particular reason for that?

Thanks.

It's because all gaijin are nice and courteous

Saiga Wrote:It's because all gaijin are nice and courteous

Not to mention, tall, strong and extremely handsome.

*cough*

haha, none of those are true.

I guess gaijin gets the "mysterious" vibe.

Pardon me if my question is stupidly obvious!
So Japanese people will pick up gaijin but not Japanese people?

[Zgarbas]

When in doubt, check out hitchwiki&friends:
http://hitchwiki.org/en/Japan
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hitchhiking_in_Japan

I have a half-Japanese (Australian) friend who hitchhiked around Japan successfully, but I think it would be obvious that he's not your normal everyday Japanese person (not that your normal everyday Japanese person would hitchhike). But yeah, if you're going to do it, look foreign and don't act Japanese, I think. Usually people pick you up because they're curious about the foreigner and it's acceptable because you're a foreigner. I don't think they would see a Japanese person hitchhiking in Japan as acceptable - that's not how Things Are Done.
But then, I've never seen a Japanese hitchhiker (or any other hitchhikers, for that matter) - so I can't even say that people don't pick up Japanese hitchhikers.

I've hitchhiked a few times between Tokyo and Sendai, if you have any questions.