Walk along the path recommended by Google Maps, you'll need to jump a fence to get to the Rest Area. Also careful for bears! Not a lot of traffic. For Nagoya, I advise to try near Shirakawago instead where there's a massive flow of tourists in cars.

At the ENEOS station. Very low traffic on a Saturday morning. Despite being close to the IC entrance, it's hard for cars to stop there and nobody goes towards Shirakawa. Possible nevertheless!

Took the train from Matsumoto station up to Shinshimashima (about where people take the bus to Kamikochi). Try there or around the 7-Eleven that has parking on both sides of the road. PS: We took the mountain pass towards Takayama instead of the normal way, very pretty!

Entered the northbound service area very easily through the translucid sliding exit door (big 出口 in red) by the road. Good way to get to Nagano from Kofu city.

Great for leaving Tokyo to Kofu, I was going to the Minami Alps via the Kofu Station bus the next day.

Hitched two times, one to Shizuoka and one straight to Nagoya. Really accommodating and really interested about your traveling

Awesome spot on a convenience store right before the IC booth, so you only get cars going on the national highway. My destination was Sendai and the driver was heading to Matsushima.

lots of traffic, but going both ways. A little difficult to get to

Very little traffic, mainly trucks. Got picked up really quick tho

Not really a good spot, the cars didn't have a lot of place to stop

Lots of cars, picked up me and another hitchhiker

only relevant when there are a lot of visitors to the temple (holidays, weekends, etc). I stood near the bathroom so everyone taking a break saw me

got sexually harassed here

I tried to hitchike for 1 hour and 30mins with a sign and thumb. Just one person gave me a bottle of water. No one stopped to give me a ride.

Not many cars passing through the area from 6:00-9:00am, though many people approached me for fukuoka, so may be a good place to stop if you’re heading to fukuoka. I went to kagoshima-chuo after being dropped off at minamata station; nice driver bought me the ticket!

I was walking with a sign saying Yufu with Japanese characters heading to Road 11. A Japanese man walking his dog stopped me and explained that my sign said the name of the city I was already in. Woops! He asked me where I was going and after I explained it to him, he offered to give me ride there as it was on his way home. Before the ride he gave me a meal as his cafe with his family and brought me to an onsen. Fantastic experience!

Good spot to get a ride to Mt Aso crater after taking the bus. Only thumb, no sign.

I didn't have to wait, someone saw me walking with my sign and asked me where I wanted to go. From Nobeoka my goal was Fukuoka but I went step by step and I just told him Kurume. He took me, and told me he took many hichhikers on that road. I don't exactly where you wanna stand on that place, but it's a big roadway station so you should be fine. Just don't be afraid to go step by step.

All the cars that goes to the roadway station will pass next to you, and when they'll go back to the road they will pass next to you again. I don't like to stand on the roadway station itself but it might be better, anyway you can decide when you're there, it's really easy to move here :) I wrote "Hajimemashite :) Kumamoto direction" in Japanese in my sign. Always have my arm straight and my thumb up.

First of all it's hard to find good spots from Nobeoka in the direction on Kumamoto in my opinion. There is just a right amount of cars passing here(1 every 10 or 20 seconds) and at least half of them go to the IC, that's why I stood here. They don't go too fast so they have time to see you and there is a good space just behind you so that even a small truck can park (it was a small truck that took me). I wrote "Hajimemashite Takachiho" in Japanese on my sign.

The spot was very good. It can be accessed very easily through a passage behind the convenience store and you won't be walking where cars drive. The station has everything, toilets, wifi, electrical plugs for charging your devices, Food etc. I got picked up after one hour waiting time on a Monday. I started at 10am and got a lift at 11am. It took me a total of 4 rides to get to Nagoya station and the drivers were always very respectful and curious why I'm hitchhiking in japan. Tomorrow I'll continue hitchhiking to Osaka and after that to kumamoto, just to see how far I can go. On this trip I never had any worries about unsafe road conditions, people being rude, not having food or a toilet. Everything was available all the time and it was a very good experience.

I waited for 40min at 9h in the morning on a Sunday. Then got ride to Fukuoka (I was heading Osaka). I asked the driver to stop in a car park on the highway. Although is prohibitted is the best place to get a ride. I rode to Osaka from Nagasaki with 4 different cars, wating an average of 20 min from car to car. Hitchhiking in Japan is great!!

Khoku PA () on Tmei Expressway (), otw to Fuji/Gotemba, Hakone, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, western Japan. Reachable from Tkaichiba () station on the JR Yokohama line. full description: http://hitchwiki.org/en/Tokyo#T.C5.8Dmei_Expressway_.28.E6.9D.B1.E5.90.8D.29