Hitchhiking in Japan

[FG Lurker]

Last night about midnight I was heading over to a friend's place. While stopped at the traffic light across from the kousoku entrance I notice someone coming towards the car.

I look over and it was a girl, about 20 I guess, walking towards me. Wondering what she wanted I lowered the window to talk to her. She asked if I'm heading to Kobe and if so would I give her a ride.

After recovering from the surreal "Why the hell is this cute 20ish girl asking some random gaijin for a ride?" feeling I told her I was heading that direction but only going about half way. Said that if she wanted I'd give her a ride that far and then drop her at a JR station where she could catch a train to take her the rest of the way. She thought that was okay so she walked around and got in.

About this time I see the guy in the car beside me has an expression on his face along the lines of "Why the hell doesn't this sort of thing ever happen to me!?"

Anyway, as we were driving along I said something along the lines of it not being particularly safe to catch rides with random guys and that she could end up in a boatload of trouble if she picked the wrong person. She claimed that she has a good eye for choosing "safe" people. Not sure how a random gaijin in a black car with heavily tinted windows suddenly became a "safe" person, guess I should be happy that she obviously didn't have any prejudice.

She also said that I could just drop her by another kousoku entrance and she'd look for someone to take her the rest of the way. "No fucking way" was my reaction to that. For one thing if she did get picked up by some Japanese Charlie Manson it'd haunt me forever. Also I have no doubt it would be me who would end up in the slammer not the nut case. Got her to a JR station in time to catch the last train for Kobe and sent her on her way...

It was an odd experience to say the least. She wasn't drunk or noticeably stoned or anything, just someone looking for a ride and pretty clueless as to the potential risks. I guess it's safer here than it would be in Canada or the US -- very little hitchhiking here probably means there aren't many nut cases out cruising for young hitchhikers to dismember...

Not sure why I'm posting this, guess it's just one of those weird experiences we all have from time to time!

[Ketou]

You stud.

[sillygirl]

Gawd....daft bint.

Lucky she got you and not some bloke with a penchant for baths, sand, caves, chopping up, cannabalism, sticking heads on school gates...

(Okay, a mix of J crimes that stick in my memory)

...but bluddy hell. Try that in England!

[FG Lurker]

Another thing that was different to the run-of-the-mill interaction was that she just assumed I would speak Japanese. I do (with lots of errors I am sure) but it was just one more odd thing in a very odd encounter.

Not sure if she has big brass balls or just isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'm guessing the latter though, she didn't come across as being a Mensa member during our conversation.

[wuchan]

Another thing that was different to the run-of-the-mill interaction was that she just assumed I would speak Japanese. I do (with lots of errors I am sure) but it was just one more odd thing in a very odd encounter.

Not sure if she has big brass balls or just isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'm guessing the latter though, she didn't come across as being a Mensa member during our conversation.

To me it seems that the average J-folk think a drivers license = japanese speaking gaijin. I have had people flag me down for directions many times....... maybe it is my navi........ maybe they like my car....... maybe only stupid people flag down a white boy in a nissan...... Any whoo, when I'm in the car the locals don't try to speak engrish. When I walk into the combini, everyone tries.

[pheyton]

How often does someone get killed hitching a ride in Japan? Never, and that may be the reason people don't necessarily have a fear of it. That and she probably wasn't the sharpest knife or she had a nice sharp one in her purse.

Every week I get a mailer for lost and missing children. How can so many kids disappear in the US while virtually none do in Japan.

The first thing I would have said as she approached my car would have been Ikura?

[Greji]

The first thing I would have said as she approached my car would have been Ikura?

I have had them approach my car, usually late in Shinjuku and offer me a ride...

[FG Lurker]

How often does someone get killed hitching a ride in Japan? Never, and that may be the reason people don't necessarily have a fear of it.

I think it is more that people just don't hitch here much. In my 15 years in Osaka I have only seen people openly hitching a very few times. Been back and forth to rural Okayama quite a bit over the last 5 years or so and never seen anyone hitching there either.

That and she probably wasn't the sharpest knife or she had a nice sharp one in her purse.

I think more the former than the latter. She was slender and definitely under 5ft/150cm tall. Unless she was some sort of martial arts champion she wouldn't have much luck against a 6'2"/186cm gaijin even with a knife.

Every week I get a mailer for lost and missing children. How can so many kids disappear in the US while virtually none do in Japan.

How many of those kids are parental/family abductions? That goes on constantly here but is never reported.

The first thing I would have said as she approached my car would have been Ikura?

Not really the right area of town for that -- no hotels around. Didn't really have time to think about what she might want, it all happened pretty quickly.

[pheyton]

FG, you know I'm full of shit. I would have done the same thing as I imagine most of us would.