I pulled 2 U-turn's to go back and get him. "Where are you going," I asked. The hitchhiker replied, "I am going to Kadena and my name is Keta, nice to meet you."
As we drove towards Kadena, I asked him why he was hitchhiking someplace so close by. Keta explained that he had been hitchhiking around Japan for the last 9 months and had only spent $1,500. In that time he had visited every prefecture in Japan. Ridden in over 540 cars and stayed in 99 houses. He told me that tonight was the last night of his trip and that he was looking for someplace to stay and for someone to drive him up to the ferry terminal in the morning.
Trusting that Keta would not kill me in my sleep, I offered to let him stay over at my place and promised him that I would drive him to the ferry terminal in the morning.
After taking him on base, so I could finish up work, I then took him over to my friends house. There my friend and I watched in amazement as Keta inhaled the steak and vegetables we cook him up. Once we had finished up dinner we sat around trading traveling stories and looking through his pictures.
The next morning when I dropped him off, I asked Keta how long it would be until he got home. He said it would take him another 4 days to get back home. I wished him luck for the journey home, took this funny picture, then drove out to the beach to watch the sunrise.
