Adventure hitchhiking to Saitama city

Today is the first day of another extended road trip. I hope to use this Christmas season to tell the Japanese people about Christ, and the best way I know how to do that is by hitchhiking when traveling and talking to the drivers individually.

I hitchhiked nearly 300 kilometers in three cars to the Kanto area which includes Tokyo and vicinity. My destination was Noda city in Chiba prefecture.

Two of the drivers went out of their way for me, the second driver, Mr. Tokaji very much so because it meant at least one hour extra of his time. He took me to Omiya station in Saitama City from where I took a train the rest of the way. There is a direct train from Omiya to Noda.

Mr. Tokaji said that he is a religious person. It is uncommon for me to hear such statements from Japanese people. Most say they’re not interested in any matters related to faith.

Mr. Tokaji asked many questions about the Bible. He was impressed when I told him that both Christianity and Judaism helped mold Japanese culture from as early as the first century A.D. and that the chant “washoi washoi” that the Japanese say when carrying the Omikoshi is a Hebrew word meaning “carry”. Only a tiny percentage of the Japanese know of their Jewish/Christian roots.

Total cost for transportation today: 400 Japanese yen.