Not Toby’s Fault … or was it?

Hitchhiking out of Akita to Odate. While doing the Q&A viewer Toby kept saying he was watching to see me hitchhike with the sign so — the signal went out and strange things happened. Was it Toby’s fault?

I got picked up by a nice guy named Takuya in an awesome yellow sports car (Daihatsu) but I had trouble getting another ride. Still on the road! (thanks Toby 😉 for being a good sport)

so hello this is Route 7 the road leading towards Alwood and I just got some cardboard at I just got some cardboard at the Family Mart right there I have to write my sign I have have a goal today it’s um odate odate is still in Akita prefecture according to Google’s Maps and uh odate is uh 100 kilm away from here it’s almost uh 3:30 I have a cup of uh coffee from Family Mart it is it says espresso but it’s just coffee it’s pretty good I’m really surprised how good the the convenience their coffee is but enough about that I am here to write a sign and uh where’ my markers go ah so today this morning I did a live stream for those who support on patreon and and thank you for the questions uh I slept last night in the park in um uh near in near aita station I woke up this morning and I went to ogga ogga is where the oga oah Hanto oga Peninsula it’s where the um um namaha monsters are they look like this a little scary but uh it was a really fun time and when I arrived I met I met a guy from Tokyo he was also alone uh just traveling around his name was um I forget Yoshi Taka Taka Yoshi Yoshi something very nice guy and we rode bicycles around uh oaho for about 2 hours and then I came back because I got to get get on the road so here’s my sign I’m going to write odate and then I’m going to hitchhike this way this town is uh two stops away from aita City so people who who have left the city are here oh boy what a day this is perfect weather it’s not cold at all I’m very hot with a jacket but I got no place else to put it my luggage is too way too heavy so I’m accumulated a lot of markers and uh after odate is is um hirosaki and hirosaki is sort of my final final my first final goal It’s the final stop in um honu which is this massive Island that I’ve I’ve been hitchhiking in for the last uh 2 and a half weeks I think three weeks just about all right so we’re going to OD there’s a place where the roads split though so I’m going to put both on there now I’m using Google Maps a lot recently all right here’s a map of Japan I’m here right now okay and you can see Hokkaido is not that far away everybody let’s see here I started here I’m going here so yeah I’m about 85% done woohoo that’s good so I’m going to um see here get off at uh noroo you can see the road the road kind of Curves this way you know what I don’t think anybody’s going that way I think everybody’s going to odate you know what screw it I’m just going to write odate yeah I don’t think anyone’s anyone who’s going to the next town is is yeah everybody who’s going to odate anyways is going through here so I’m just going to write odate if if you’re not sure you can always write hen hen means uh Direction so OD hen that’s easy I didn’t sleep too well in the tent I slept okay I mean it it could have been better but it was cold oh oh that day ah here we go there we GOI City that’s where I want to go and I’m going to try to spend the night in not it seems like a nice place I have I have a surprise for you actually I have a surprise for you uh when I get to ad station I’m going to try to do something something fun um so I’m going to live stream again on on only in Japan go and I’m making a video for only in Japan Japan Channel maybe uh but first I’m going to just do these live streams for only in Japan go okay o this one’s not that hard to write o homean oh is easy oh is just it means big ohaka oh there all right oh that day oh baby oh my oh here we go ah beautiful oh that there oh baby okay and then do day is a little bit harder so this is do day the second one’s a little bit harder little bit harder just take it slow I’m not in a hurry that’s when you screw it up [Music] I haven’t messed up once yet on my signage that’s a good thing all right this one goes all the way down and then cross it over all right now up and then down nice so that’s the first part of um o now the so I got to do one next to it here we go and down oh de here we go everybody knows what I’m writing there oh I think goes the train that train goes once every like 90 minutes you can see the platform that that’s like that train doesn’t come very often all right oh D oh brother oh lordy oh stop doing this oh nice oh lovely oh shut up okay all right there you go o b b nice I think the O could be bigger o is supposed to be big you think oh that there there it is okay now the last thing I’m going to write is um home in and that’s just the direction just in case somebody’s not going in that in that direction I’m going to write hem in in case they’re going somewhere else oh man oh oh man okay nice comment there uh mea good one all right there’s some creative people out there I like that all right oh man oh man oh brother oh stopage you go it’s a little bit too big maybe one two three here we go all right and then just just just for just to be uh safe I’m going to write nongo okay yeah that means Japanese nongo okay the Hung okay somebody said I should put the smile’s face back on so that’s for you I do listen to people who give me good suggestions and I’ve been taking a picture of the sign every time I uh do it so yeah there you go I took a picture of the sign I’m putting that on Instagram so if you want to take a look at it at it later go to Instagram in only in Japan TV on Instagram that’s where I am putting a lot the travel photos on there all right close my bag and get a move on oops that sometimes happens again when you hitch hike don’t bring too much luggage see all right thank you Family Mart okay I have to cross the street this road is really really busy I got to find a place where traffic can pull in and pick me up there’s a gasoline stand on the other side at anyos right there that might be the best option now here come the people coming off of the train oh the train still there he’s wearing a helmet I don’t see Japanese wearing helmets very often the Train’s still there that’s interesting I guess it’s one line and that train Waits there while the other train goes by I really wanted to shave this morning too what going to do what what you going to do when they come for you all right anybody have any questions they want to ask me I while I drink my my coffee if you have any questions go ahead and ask me and I’m going to answer them and then I’m going to go to that gas station and and start hitching all right comment he looks like he didn’t bathe in a year thanks a lot hey John how long does it take to get how long does it take to grow a pedo mustach come on Julian is life hard hitchhiking it’s not too bad it’s not easy but uh you know you’re roughing it you know you’re out here to um find a ride and uh meet people so you have to look look not great but good enough it’s about 3 40 3:35 in right now p.m. my plans after I get back to Tokyo maybe relax and edit the DVD I have to edit a lot of video I’ll probably be just at home editing for for two two straight weeks is coffee expensive in Japan um I don’t know I don’t think so about the same maybe what inspired you this journey that’s a wow kaser that’s a great question question I’m inspired to do this because in 2003 I did the same trip and I wanted to do it again the reason why I’m still here is because what I did in 14 years ago hitchhiking and I wanted to share this experience with you and also do it again for me because um it’s been 14 years and I want to feel that same passion that I had when I I did this trip the first time and I I totally have i’ it’s sort of put my life in another Direction um this trip you know it hasn’t been so popular I’ve been whoa kid kid’s riding a bike right in front of the car W they are really angry see the kids I don’t think the kids are very smart in this town D um so I’m I was inspired to do this trip because I did it um 14 years ago and I want to I want to share the experience with you that’s a scary scolding it is when you get he didn’t just go in front of the car once he did he did it again twice so and he wasn’t wearing a helmet like that other kid that other kid’s a model citizen will you make a second question and answer video yeah I’ll do an question and answer video at the end but uh again most of the stuff will be on only in Japan I traveled to 71 different countries over the last 20 years so I’ve already been in Australia like five times I don’t know I might go back I’d love to go back Australia I’ll go back in the winter when it’s summer there I’m not traveling North Korea but a good friend of mine did a couple of times keep live streaming after you finish this journey yeah on the only in Japan Channel I will live stream on the main Channel I won’t will you go to hakone what’s in hakone I mean look a lot of YouTubers now are doing the same crap over and over and over again not that it’s crap it’s just for me you know if it’s been done a 100 times I don’t want to do it I like to believe that I I’ve been here long enough that I can find original ideas that every other YouTuber hasn’t done and uh you got to be different you have to be um you have to be original you have to be original and I’m I’m out here looking for Original Stories and I found a ton of them that’s what this channel is all about it’s not about uh uh copying what some other some some um person goes out to the suicide forest and makes a video in there and everyone asks me go to the suicide forest I’m not going to the suicide forest that’s idiotic I’m not going to copy what somebody else did although I probably could do it better but I don’t copy I don’t really copy other people there’s too many ideas to to start doing what everyone else is doing will the DV DVD be available aside from Kickstarter yeah but initially it’ll be on kickstar starter so I would buy it there and maybe in a few months there’ll be the DVD whatever is left over will be available outside of Kickstarter later on I don’t know what’ll be left over where have you not visited in Japan uh yakushima and kagoshima um there’s a lot of the islands but I’ve been now to every prefecture I think twice yeah I want to go also to Hokkaido some of the Far Far reaches of Hokkaido the corner um uh I work in Shell Petrol and want to know what the petrol price there is hold on a second um high octane 137 Yen for a liter and regular regular gasoline is 120 hold on a second 127 126 Yen okay that those are the gasoline prices it’s sort of expensive and um I guess that’s diesel is 105 Yen do you own Godzilla Insurance uh no how old are you none of your business you for 7-Eleven or family M 7-Eleven is void Rush is I don’t even know what that means besides your awesome private Onan I thought you were going to show more of your private stay private stay what do you mean like in my room and stuff by the DVD how was your hitchhiking trip I’m sorry I’m trying to go through this really quick how was your hitchhiking trip different from the first one um I think I mentioned this last time people stopped more because they were curious last time this time they’re stopping more because they genuinely um want to help me I it’s a littleit it’s a little bit different in that way there weren’t that many foreigners on TV and and there wasn’t much many foreigners exposed to ja Japanese weren’t exposed to many foreigners now they have been in a way so it’s it’s different in that sense um what has scared you during your hitchhiking experience uh I lost my drone and Iwakuni uh go back to the last video on the only in Japan channel uh find that story that was scary what is your favorite anime um chibi marikan is your last stop in wak yes no my last Stop’s Tokyo to go home but yeah wak it’s so much cheaper than the US um the gasoline yeah hello from Seattle Hello from Hello from where the heck am I aita are you going to hold the sign up yes in a second what is your favorite place in Japan um wherever I’m going next maybe Hiroshima maybe um this this just way too many hirosima is high on my list what’s your job besides YouTube um I been doing a couple shows for NHK world as well as making video content for clients I own my own business here in Japan I own a company Yakima yes do you understand OK accent sometimes will the DVD be available in Europe order from Kickstarter and it’s it it tells you where it’ll be sent worldwide or uh um I think they’re all worldwide hello John from Spokan Washington okay Spokan Washington there’s a guy a basketball player from Gonzaga that that was in Toyama that’s originally from Toy Yo something and he’s from he’s playing for Gonzaga which is in Washington how’ you get started in Japan I just uh got an airplane and was teaching English to Children uh good question thank you has anyone super sketchy looking over your ride and then you decline no nobody has uh does that sign mean Self Serve yeah set it says set so self- serve when will you hold a sign up like in one in one minute I got to walk over there the people that picked you up and offered you to let you stay at their house off site yes they’re very nice they might even be watching you have you ever been to Yakima no their private house yes you are going to hitchhike to cross the sea as well no I’m taking the ferry so do you like this trip more um yeah because I don’t remember the last trip as well as I used to do people make mistake you as a hobo shut up is it no well no are you going to feature the People You Meet along the way on your DVD yes uh how about Taiwan a lot of old Japanese things that sounds cool I’ve been to Taiwan twice I A friend of mine who is a like a r she’s a a blonde she’s sort of a celebrity in Taiwan named uh an Annie or Anna she’s Russian blonde hair she’s on a lot of TV shows now used to work with her in NHK now she’s big in Taiwan smart move to go to Taiwan not stay in Japanese Japan because they got too many uh blonde um talents here do you ever have time to take for Tokyo 2020 uh no I don’t I’m contracted by them and when the directors want me to work for them they’ll call me and I go and do a report with them but to be honest with you I got if they call me I’ll I’ll I’ll think about doing another episode they the show is is is a really good show uh those people offer you let’s stay W can I okay I think we got enough questions thank you so wow there’s a lot of questions when do you think your trip will end it ends when I reach wakai I came here for holding up the Toby just wait a second all right I’m going to throw this away here guys don’t go anywhere I’m going to hold up the sign but I got to throw this away don’t go anywhere for okay are you still there Toby Toby’s been asking me he came here only for seeing the sign he didn’t come here for a question and answer so if you have more questions blame Toby Toby got angry at me and he told me to go and hitchhike now it’s Toby’s fault Toby did it i’m Kidd I’m kidding I’m just having fun for Toby’s getting it [Applause] now I’m sorry Toby Toby man you you look don’t all right Toby is right though I should I should get on the road all right and then there is the the gasoline guy here’s the gasoline stand gasoline guy there you go selfs serve yeah they’re laughing at me they know I’m a YouTuber so the this is for the gasoline guy all right wait Toby’s more popular than I am all right stop messaging Toby I’m getting jealous just toy this is cool I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this before I’m going to turn this around the other way see the car that’s the car wash the car stays stationary the car is stationary and it moves back and forth and that’s how they wash the car I thought that was pretty cool oh they’re done buy some gasoline for the people who will pick you up no thank you that’s expensive if they ask you know what if they ask me I would pay in fact I often ask to treat the people hitch hitchhike I ask them if I can treat them and they say no and they get angry because they treat me like I’m their guest and that’s a good thing um this is an underground walkway so what I’m going to do is I think to the people who who help me I’m going to send them a free copy of the DVD I think that’s a really good um a really good present don’t you cuz it was this has been a part of uh everybody everybody who’s picked me up and taken me to this exact spot it’s the reason I’m here is because of the people who picked me up it’s just simp it’s really that simple okay all right all right all right sorry it says here that the Network’s changed from 4G to dok 3G so stop blaming Toby start blaming uh well Toby’s the one who told me to start hitchhiking but don’t blame Toby blame do now because Doo’s connection is bad it says and it could be the YouTube app too cuz I’ve been having trouble with the YouTube app this is awesome this is so awesome you guys can’t see it cuz it’s say bad connection but there’s a there’s a bus stop and that’s perfect for people to pull in this is this is such this is totally the place I’m going to hit Chik from right there yes this is awesome okay hey Michelle so God thanks Toby for taking the heat off me signed Donald Trump oh my this is crazy you guys are funny all right I’m here now okay the connection is bad I’m not sure what to do is it connection still bad how’s the connection now good okay all right Toby you took some heat brother but this is for you if I get you know picked up I’m dedicating this ride to Toby [Applause] [Applause] now guys before I where are you typically before I hitchhike I I get the gh5 out and I take some pictures of the hitchhiking for the DVD [Applause] this is my tripod this is the mon froto live live live free tripod be free and it folds up to such a compact size but it’s got a very good fluid uh fluid head on it so it works pretty well okay so I got to do I have to do these shots for the DVD so just bear with me well it’s got like all of a sudden it got super quiet it’s kind of eerie I got uh American meon [Music] [Applause] okay I have to do that for the DVD for part of it I forgot to push the record button on the gh5 oh darn I love you man okay when it was in Kumamoto or sorry when I was in Toyama or kazawa the lady stopped when I was taking these one minute like uh shots for the video that was too fast all right tuby I’m starting to hit Tien for real now that’s a warm up [Applause] putting the tripod away okay all right I’m going to record it um also with this GoPro camera cuz everyone’s saying um they want a copy of this in DVD you guys still har you guys still um on Toby I’m so sorry all right we’re recording live I also have I got to be care keep an eye on this I also have this task cam um recorder so I can record the audio separately really close to my body but I always forget to turn it off that’s the problem with this task cam all right it’s not recording audio is probably the most important thing with any video if you don’t have good audio you don’t have a good video it’s as simple as that are you happy Toby I’m holding the sign brother someone’s going to stop any minute hopefully not on a bicycle the cars up ahead can see me holding a sign at the intersection so it’s good to be visible kid rode his bike he stopped 50 m away now he’s watching me [Music] [Applause] all right you know the routine they come in waves [Applause] guys some scary stuff all batter is at 20% just so you know [Applause] can see people are driving slow they’re reading the sign that’s a good thing it’s a very good thing another Train’s going by did they come guys [Applause] [Applause] there’s a bus [Applause] coming but it’s not stopping [Applause] end of the wave [Applause] all right traffic lights red it’s going to turn green in three two 1 minus one – two- three Min – four minus five come on change do it do it now do it right now do it yes it changed it changed there they come please stop job m ah here come more cars [Applause] [Applause] whoa there’s a big wave coming right now a very big wave it’s a big big wave I think there’s 100 cars backed up at the light now things are going to start getting interesting now whereas whereas [Applause] [Applause] you know people want to stop but I think they just shy maybe should just jump in front of them [Music] all right this speed’s going on for another uh couple of minutes I’m not jumping don’t worry I was just I was just joking really I was just kidding I love this I love this guys oh [Applause] sh time all right we’re down to to 10% battery life sorry guys it’s going to look it looks like um might not happen with you guys on the broadcast but uh you never know one more wave you try dancing with the cardboard sign it’s not as easy as you think I got a honk [Applause] on guys m all right that’s the end of the wave thanks thank you everybody for tuning in come back and leave me a comment on the feed okay come back and leave me a comment and I’ll try to answer tonight thanks so much for joining me sorry I can’t show you with a happy a happy end of the story but I just got to keep on going and and hopefully get that ride to a check for Instagram if if I make it to a check Instagram for pictures okay see you everybody thanks for the good lucks mat