So my mom told me I’m not doing a very good job at this blogging thing.
And honestly, she’s probably right—this is my first time trying anything like this. I’m still figuring it out as I go.
But I am committed to doing better. From here on, I’ll try to tell this story with a bit more detail and feeling, instead of just moving from place to place.
For starters, here’s a quick update on where I’ve been. Up to now, I’ve walked from Shizuoka City to Kakegawa. In my last post, I mentioned going back to Shizuoka for the sakura festival, and once that wrapped up, I wanted to pick up right where I left off.
So I took a train out to the edge of Hamamatsu—specifically Iwata, which is just one city over from Kakegawa. From there, it was about a two-hour walk into Hamamatsu, and honestly, nothing too crazy happened along the way. Pretty uneventful, but sometimes that’s just how it goes.
The map above shows a rough outline of where I walked throughout this blog post, which takes me from Hamamatsu to Anjo. This stretch crosses from Shizuoka Prefecture into Aichi Prefecture and puts me just south of the huge city of Nagoya. In total, this leg was about 100 km—not counting the extra exploring I did along the way.
Anyway, onto the actual blog.
When I got to Hamamatsu, I booked a two-night stay to wait out some rain before continuing. That first night, I went out to find something interesting to eat and maybe something to do. I ended up finding a place that serves Texas BBQ—which, as someone from America, feels like a bold claim. I had to try it… even though I’ve never actually had authentic Texas BBQ myself lol.
Alright—food review time, mainly because they were really hyping up their American food.
The mac and cheese was incredible—super creamy and easily one of the highlights. The mashed potatoes were… well, mashed potatoes. Good, but nothing crazy. The gravy could’ve been better. The brisket, though, was really solid—great flavor, and the sauces had a nice kick to them. The pulled pork was decent, but pretty standard. Nothing special there.
The ribs tasted great, but what impressed me more was how tender they were. I took one bite and the meat just fell off the bone, which is always a good sign.
Overall, I was really happy with the meal, especially since I got to try a bunch of different things at once. The price was a bit steep compared to what I usually spend on dinner, though—this one came out to about 3,300 yen (around $20).
Speaking of money, I’ve realized a lot of people don’t really understand how conversions work, so here’s my quick and simple method.
First, I turn yen into what I jokingly call a “fake Japanese dollar.” Basically, I just drop two decimal places. So 3,300 yen becomes $33. From there, I account for the exchange rate difference, which is roughly 63%. That means you multiply that number by 0.63, and you get about $20.
It might sound a little weird at first, but honestly, you can just move the decimal and cut it roughly in half + round up, and you’ll be pretty close most of the time.
After dinner, I headed to a bar for a language exchange event they apparently host every week. It started off pretty slow, but more people showed up as the night went on. The main takeaway for me was picking up a bunch of new vocabulary. For example, I learned how to describe light rain, heavy rain, and even “raining cats and dogs” in Japanese.
The next day, it was supposed to rain until late afternoon, which is exactly why I booked two nights. I ended up spending most of the day on my phone downloading apps to try and meet more people. I grabbed Tinder, Bumble, and HelloTalk, and even tried the premium versions for all three.
I’ll just say it straight—Tinder feels like a scam. Bumble works pretty well, but it leans more toward people looking for serious, long-term relationships. HelloTalk, though, is easily the best of the three by a long shot. It’s specifically for language exchange, so you can find locals who want to learn English, meet foreigners, and sometimes even hang out in person (foreshadowing).
Back at the Shizuoka exchange, I met a guy—actually the same guy I ran into on the train—and it turns out he lives and works in Hamamatsu. So I messaged him on Instagram, and we went out for some chicken wings.
Super chill guy. We had a lot of great conversations, and we had a lot in common—both foreigners in Japan, into anime and card games—so we clicked pretty easily. Honestly, it was just nice to have a night out speaking English with someone.
He also mentioned that the building next to my hotel is apparently a brothel-type establishment… which might explain why my room was so cheap.
Anyway, back to the journey.
After two days in Hamamatsu, it was time to start walking again—and this was a big one. The route from Hamamatsu to Toyohashi (my next stop) was about 37 km. That’s a lot, especially considering I haven’t been at 100% since my first walk from Shizuoka to Yaizu. My body definitely wasn’t prepared for this trip, and my legs have been sore pretty much the entire time.
But hey, the adventure has to continue.
My first stop along the way was a place called Bentenjima, which has a torii gate out in the water.
Really pretty spot. I also got to experience some insanely strong beach winds while walking along the coast, which definitely made things more interesting.
Not long after leaving the beach area, I realized it was time for a break. I’ve figured out that the key to surviving these longer walks is taking a bunch of small breaks instead of pushing too far all at once.
Also, my ADHD and general curiosity don’t help—I feel the need to stop at every little shop or bakery I pass. At this point, I’ve developed a cream puff addiction… they are cheap and delicious though.
I’ve also been stopping by barber shops about once a week to get a clean shave. From what I’ve noticed, facial hair isn’t super popular in Japan, so you could say it’s my way of trying to fit in a bit more.
So after grabbing my cream puff, I went and got a shave.
The walk started to get really nice after that—it shifted from more of a city vibe to something quieter and surrounded by nature.
This is kind of the downside of just walking without doing much planning ahead. I kept telling myself, “I’ll grab lunch when I get to the next area.” But then I’d get there, and it would just be a few houses—no restaurants, no shops, nothing.
Then it was back to hills and more nature.
Honestly, it started to feel pretty defeating. I ended up stopping at convenience stores whenever I could, just grabbing things like fried chicken or a protein shake to keep me going.
I walked long enough that daylight was definitely starting to fade, which wasn’t exactly reassuring.
About an hour after I took that picture, I finally found a place to eat—kimchi fried rice and gyoza. Nothing fancy, but it hit the spot.
After that, I started looking for places to stay… and yeah, everything was way too expensive. That’s when I decided it was time to try a net café.
So, what’s a net café? Glad you asked.
A net café in Japan is basically an all-in-one spot where you can get food, read books or manga, take a shower, use a computer, play games—pretty much whatever you need. They also have small private cubicles with padded floors where you can relax, watch anime, or get some work done.
A lot of people actually use them to sleep or stay overnight—which is exactly what I’m doing, because it’s cheap. You pay in time blocks, like 6, 9, or 12 hours, so it’s a pretty flexible option when you’re traveling on a budget.
Sadly, I have to admit I’m just a little too tall to fit comfortably—even diagonally—in those net café cubicles. After a long day of walking with sore muscles, the sleep I got just wasn’t worth it. There’s also a constant low level of light, so you really need something to cover your eyes. First time in my life I’ve actually wanted one of those sleep masks people wear.
Between the rough walk from Hamamatsu to Toyohashi and the terrible sleep, I decided I needed an easier day. I figured heading to Toyokawa would be a nice, simple two-hour walk.
The walking itself felt fine, but I definitely had a bit of a crick in my neck from sleeping weird. Also, I’m starting to realize there are some things Google Maps just don’t warn you about. At one point, it tried to send me across a bridge that had no sidewalk—and barely enough space to walk without getting clipped by a car. Other than that, though, it’s actually been pretty reliable.
While walking, I called my mom on LINE to give her an update. In the middle of our call, I started hearing fireworks—loud and really close. I ended up stumbling into a small local festival.
It wasn’t anything huge—just a neighborhood kind of event with food stalls, small fireworks, and a lot of families—but honestly, that made it even better. I even asked one of the crossing guards (in Japanese) if it was okay for foreigners to join, and he was like, “Of course, go ahead.” I always like to check so I’m not intruding, and it’s good practice using Japanese whenever I can.
I grabbed a beef skewer and this grape soda jelly drink, which was actually pretty good. At one point, a junior high school girl came up and started talking to me in English. We chatted for about 15 minutes—just basic stuff like where I’m from and what I’m doing. It was really cool to see someone that young already speaking English so well. Definitely made me wish I had put more effort into learning languages earlier.
After leaving the festival, I started looking for a place to stay—hotel, Airbnb, hostel… anything. Nothing. Not a single option in the area. So it looked like I had to head to the next city over.
I thought, “Okay, not too bad—just another 3 or 4 hours.”
Yeah… famous last words.
The sun was absolutely brutal. I had already reapplied sunscreen like four times that day, and I still felt like I was melting.
At that point, I decided it was finally time to try one of those famous 7-Eleven fresh smoothies. Basically, you grab a cup from the freezer that has frozen fruit and either soy milk or yogurt inside, then you take it to a machine that blends it fresh for you on the spot.
I thought it was really good, just a bit small in portion size.
As I kept walking, I started to feel something new. My feet weren’t just hot or sore anymore—they were numb. Almost like they had fallen asleep, but worse… like there was just no feeling at all. It started to freak me out a bit, but I told myself I was only about an hour away.
Then my knees started to give out a little. It felt like they weren’t properly holding my weight anymore, and I was kind of dragging my legs forward instead of walking normally.
I finally had to stop and sit on the stairs of an apartment building. I took off my shoes and started massaging my feet just to get some feeling back.
While I was sitting there, I made a post on my Instagram story. Somehow, someone I had met through a language exchange app saw it and messaged me asking where I was.
I was honestly confused why someone was asking for my location, so I just said I was walking toward Gamagori. Then they replied, “On my way,” and asked for the exact street I was on.
I’ll be honest—there’s usually never a situation where you should give your location to a stranger. But I kept telling myself, “it’s Japan,” so I sent it.
To my surprise, a really kind woman showed up with snacks—ice cream, vitamin jelly, and water. She stayed and talked with me for about an hour, and then we went to a local mall together.
We just wandered around and hung out, and eventually went to dinner at Sukiya. You could honestly say she was my knight in shining armor—she completely saved the day after it took such a brutal turn.
The only downside was that there were still no places to stay in Gamagori, so I ended up spending another night in a net café.
As you can imagine, I woke up again after another round of uncomfortable sleep, ready to start walking to a new city. But this time, I wanted to plan ahead to avoid another bad night.
I found a decent-looking place in Okazaki that also happened to be a Tsukemen shop. It looked comfortable enough, so I figured—why not?
So I set out again, tired and a bit beaten down, but at least knowing I’d have a proper bed waiting for me this time.
Fun fact: Google Maps actually got worse. It started giving me weird shortcuts and constantly changing routes. Like, look at the picture below and tell me you would walk into this.
Looking back at the map, I could’ve just gone further down and followed the road.
Even with all the pain and setbacks, the walk to Okazaki was actually pretty peaceful. The scenery opened up a bit, the grass was calming, and I even stopped to sit and rest for about 45 minutes.
Don’t worry—I didn’t sit on the perfect grass, I sat next to it.
That rest break actually gave me just enough energy to push through the rest of the walk. I’m slowly learning and adapting as I go. For example, I figured out that loosening my shoulder straps every 15–30 minutes really helps with the pain. Taking a proper break and sitting down every 1–2 hours also makes a big difference for my knees.
I eventually made it to my place to stay, but found out the noodle shop downstairs was closed that day—so unfortunately I missed out on it.
Instead, I ended up going out for Indian food.
At this point, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do next. I was close to so many different cities, and I still hadn’t heard back from the homestay family I was supposed to stay with in Nagoya.
When I woke up the next day, I literally just started moving.
Along the way, I finally got to meet someone from the language app HelloTalk. We met up for breakfast and just had a really casual conversation. I’m hoping I can keep doing that throughout this trip—meeting more people and hanging out with locals whenever possible.
I eventually made it to a residential area called Anjo, and realized I hadn’t done laundry in a while. So I stopped at a coin laundry and washed everything.
While I was there, I met a cleaning woman who was super friendly and ended up chatting with me while my clothes were in the dryer. She even showed me her favorite music, which was a nice little moment.
One thing I’ve realized here: the “guess my age” game is basically impossible. Every time someone asks me to guess, I’m wildly off. People genuinely look 10–15 years younger than their age—it’s insane.
After my clothes were done, I packed everything back up. Since it was already dark, I started looking for a hotel.
I found a pretty good deal for two nights at a business hotel. Honestly, I felt like I deserved the rest at that point since I’d been walking pretty much every day.
The room also had a real TV for the first time—like a proper big one right in front of the bed. I’m into Japanese comedy shows, so I was actually kind of excited to just relax and watch a bit.
I also found a Matsuya, which was a nice bonus. They serve gyudon (beef bowls). In Japan, the big three gyudon chains are Sukiya, Matsuya, and Yoshinoya. They all have pretty similar menus, but it felt like a bit of a milestone because I’ve now tried all three.
Unfortunately, I don’t really have a favorite. I’d honestly recommend all of them. Just if the water tastes off, ask for water… they usually give barley tea instead and in my opinion its awful.
I do apologize for the lack of blog posts. I will do my best to catch up over the next few days. Between WiFi problems, website problems, and just being busy… I got a lot to tell all of you! Stay tuned and follow me on instagram @ nomadokai if you want live updates.