Reddit mentions of Hitching Rides with Buddha

Just had a search for this and I think it has been re-published under the name of Hitching Rides with Budda.

Also for a look at the seedier side of Japan from a western viewpoint I'd recommend Yakuza Diary

Here's my thoughts:

It almost seems more common in more rural areas, or people are more willing to pick you up. I've noticed this in the US, too, so I think this might be the beginning of a gross overgeneralization, so I'll stop.

I don't think they really are big on it themselves (most of our Japanese friends were shocked when we told them and assured us "we don't do that, it's dangerous"), but when they see the stereotypical "Canadian Backpacker" (I'm American and my friend is Czech, but you get the idea) looking for a ride, I think a lot of people are intrigued. We were a novelty. And I feel comfortable saying that many Japanese people I met are fond of little oddities, a natural curiosity for the peculiar. We also had a sign, stating where we were heading and that we could indeed speak Japanese. I think being white, traveling as a pair, having a sign, and being quite functional in the language were all bonuses. Some people stopped and chatted for a little bit but in the end were not able to give us a ride. The were just wondering what we were doing.

We were in the Tohoku area, but I here it is even more common in the summer in Hokkaido. A dream of mine is to do the length of Japan - Shikoku, Kyushu, Honshu, and Hokkaido - by a variety of transportation, including a bit of hitch-hiking.

Also, naturally, every person that gave us a ride said that we shouldn't do that because it's dangerous. Every time we just laughed and assured them, "it's Japan, one of the safest countries."

If you're looking for a good read, check out "Hitching Rides With Buddha" by Will Ferguson

Roads to Sata - Story of Alan Booth's 2000 mile walk from the northern tip of Japan to the southern tip during the 1970s. One of my favorite books.

Hitching Rides With Buddha - Similar story of Will Ferguson's journey hitchhiking from the Southern tip to the Northern tip of Japan.

Ah, wish I'd seen this earlier. I've hitchhiked almost the entire country at this point. I had a working holiday visa last year and didn't bother working, instead just hitchhiked around.

I guess you already have tickets to Tokyo, but my number one advice would be to get the hell away from Tokyo. I'm actually surprised to here the other guy had an easyish time hitching around the Tokyo area because from what I've heard it sounds unreasonably difficult. I've personally never bothered because I just plain don't like that area much.

So yeah, number one tip is get out of that area, then everything becomes a million times easier. Hokkaido is a hitchhiker's paradise, but it's a bit far depending on how long you're here for. You can find flights up to there for about a hundred bucks, which isn't too bad. Or again, if you've got a decent amount of time, just hitchhike up towards Aomori and take the ferry.

Recently over Golden Week I hitchhiked from Aomori Prefecture, the northernmost prefecture on Honshuu, the main island, to Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture, which is about 850km away I would say. That was a really pretty route. I liked it a lot.

You mention the expressway, and I'm curious as to what you mean. Like, paid expressways? If that's the case, just know that getting on those in the first place is actually pretty difficult. I've done it a couple times, but only once was I able to actually hitchhike from in front of an interchange and onto the expressway. Hitchhiking on the expressway or too close to the on ramp to the expressway is illegal. Once on an expressway, hitchhiking from parking/service area to service area is very easy and fast, but is a very lousy way to see the country. The sound barriers completely remove the very beautiful scenery from the equation. That being said, on my way back from Ishikawa Prefecture during Golden Week, I covered about 1000km in one day coming back home to catch work the next day (there was a detour into Tohoku region, so 850km became closer to 1000km). But again, you see literally nothing and it's too fast to actually be interesting at all. I much more recommend taking the national highways because they're beautiful, often running by the sea, and people are a lot more willing to stop there than in front of a on-ramp (though I guess once you're already in a PA/SA, it's about even).

As for maps, use Google Maps. It doesn't get any better than that. As soon as you get here, go to a huge tech store like Yodobashi Camera and pick yourself up a prepaid sim for your phone (obviously phone has to be unlocked) and use maps. Alternatively you can get one of those portable wi-fi things but I never did because there's no such thing as a cheap one as far as I've seen.

If you have quite a bit of time to mentally prepare before the trip itself, I highly recommend reading Hitching Rides with the Buddha for stories:
http://www.amazon.com/Hitching-Rides-Buddha-Will-Ferguson/dp/1841957852/
And his practical how-to book Hitchhiker's Guide to Japan:
http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Japan-Will-Ferguson/dp/0804820686/
The guide is incredibly outdated in terms of destination information (worst was getting to an area with an amazing sounding hot water waterfall that led to a free open air mixed gender onsen, only to find a landslide closed the whole thing down like 8 years ago) but the route information is solid, granted it is more focused on Hokkaido, Tohoku region, Kyushu and Shikoku, with almost no focus on central Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, northern Kanto, etc.)

If you have any other questions about hitchhiking here in Japan let me know. I'm not an expert, but I do know a shit tons after a year of doing it.

Here is the mobile version of your link