Snapshot
I’m not talking about a photographic snapshot (though I wish I’d had my camera), but the snapshot you see of someone else where you wonder where they came from and what will happen to them. People you just see on the street, passing by, and never see again. You see them for a moment, like a snapshot, and that’s it.
I had one of those moments today as I drove back home from work. It’s a rainy day here, and I was going down Route 20 outside of Shinjuku. And by the side of the road, I see a hitchhiker.
That alone is unusual. In all my years in Japan, I cannot recall having seen one before. And knowing Japan as I do, I know that a Japanese person would almost certainly not be doing this; even before I can make out the person’s face, I know it has to be a foreigner–and so it was. A youngish man with short brown hair. He’s standing under an umbrella with a few traveling bags at his side, and he’s holding up a small piece of cardboard (maybe a foot and a half across). The cardboard has a simple drawing of a mountain, and below that, the single word “FUJI.”
And that kind of makes me wonder what this guy is about. Obviously a tourist, is he just going to visit the Fuji area, or does he intend to climb? Does he have any idea what climbing Fuji entails? Or is he aware that the Fuji-climbing season is July and August, and he’s just missed out on the time when the main trails are open? After August 28, the mountain is climbable, but few buses go up to the starting point at the 5th station halfway up the slope, and above that point, the huts and other support facilities are now closed.
Having climbed Fuji before myself (three times–and I just realized that I never blogged on this), and long ago having been a newbie tourist alone in Japan, I can sympathize with this guy, and keep wondering what will become of him. Is he so adventurous that he’ll climb the mountain anyway? Does he have any clue as to what he’s getting into. Or hell, will he even get a ride from anyone in the first place?
That’s why these snapshots are so intriguing and frustrating–you’re never going to know the answer.
It’s interesting how each person interprets what they see differently. You saw that guy as being new and inexperienced. I would see him as at least somewhat experienced and probably poor right now or trying to save money.
I’ve had coworkers who have chosen to hitchhike all over Japan because they hadn’t socked away enough cash during their time here but wanted to tour around Japan before leaving. One of them had only about 100,000 yen and wanted to travel for a month on a small amount of money and hitchhiked to save on trains.
There is one way to find out what the deal is with him. Stop and pick him up. 😉
While he may have been grateful for a partial lift to Fuji (just 15 km?), I don’t think all his bags would have fit on my scooter.
And–hey! You’ve got a blog!
I had a friend hitchhike from Hokkaido to Osaka in 3 days. Not a bad effort. He had a sign purely in japanese that someone wrote for him, and was picked up in no time at all