Hitchhiking and boats

[rosskun]

I've heard about the extraordinary courtesty of Japanese drivers and how easy it can be to get a ride, so I decided to spend my free month in Japan hitchhiking around the country.

That got me thinking - does that extend to boat captains? Is it possible to stroll around the docks in Kagoshima and pick up a ride, island-hopping all the way down to Okinawa? Unless I get a resounding "no, it's illegal, no one will take you" I'll probably try it anyway, but I want to know if anyone's done this or has any words of wisdom. My Japanese is good enough, so I'm not concerned about language barriers.

Thanks!

[Mulboyne]

You might want to dig out some Will Ferguson books before you go. He wrote "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan" around 10 years ago and "Hokkaido Highway Blues" which was republished recently as "Hitching Rides with Buddha".

[rosskun]

"Hitching Rides with Buddha"? God, does every piece of travel writing nowadays have to be orientalist bullshit?

Thanks a lot though, I'll see if I can order these off of Amazon or something. I'll be hitching to Kagoshima no matter what, so even if it doesn't have anything about boats it'll be a lot of help.

[CrankyBastard]

Is it possible to stroll around the docks in Kagoshima and pick up a ride, island-hopping all the way down to Okinawa? Unless I get a resounding "no, it's illegal, no one will take you" I'll probably try it anyway, but I want to know if anyone's done this or has any words of wisdom. My Japanese is good enough, so I'm not concerned about language barriers.

Thanks!

If you mean working your passage, it's doubtful that you could do it. Most of the ferries operating on the coastal runs out of the main ports won't sign on a supernumerary crew member. However if you have any previous sea going experience and the ship is shorthanded there may be a chance that you could.

[rosskun]

I guess I'm not really talking about working for passage a la a trans oceanic trip, because I'd only plan on being on the boat less than a day. The ferry to Okinawa only takes twenty-five hours, so I guess if I can break it up and find people who are stopping at islands in between I wouldn't need a bed or anything. Of course, I wouldn't have a problem lending a hand or paying a little bit.

[CrankyBastard]

I don't know whether there are any island hopping routes from the mainland to Okinawa or not. The ferries usually depart from the main ports and sail directly to Naha, I might be wrong though.
A long shot might be to get friendly with the truck drivers at the ferry terminal and try to bum a passage on a truck, they get free passage and a communal room for the trip.
jmo.

[baka tono]

Hokkaido Highway Blues is one of the worst books Ive ever read about Japan. Roads to Sata one of the best.

You could always walk the length of Japan but you will have to think of another fictional character since Kintaro is already taken.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3067683435545761102
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintaro_Walks_Japan

[Visitor K]

"Hitching Rides with Buddha"? God, does every piece of travel writing nowadays have to be orientalist bullshit?

ive not read it, but im guessing the title of the book has something to do with the location being in the orient.. i could be wrong though, it might be a series with locales such as iowa and saskatchewan.
anyway, hitchhiking was easy for me to do in japan, i found hitching with a friend (preferably japanese and female) was easier as i think people were less intimidated than just a lone foreign dude.. but they will stop for that too, and quite frequent.. good luck, and let us know how it goes.