BY YUKO AITA
On December 31, Doronzu, a new Japanese comedy duo, succeeded in hitchhiking vertically through the American Continents. It took one year and two months to travel the 35 thousand kilometers from Argentina to Alaska. Earning their living with part-time jobs and telling comic stories, their goal was to travel only by hitchhiking. In the last scene in Alaska they walked fifteen kilometers in a severe 40-degree-below-zero world. Just in front of the goal gate called "End of the Road," they stopped walking, took a deep breath and stepped over it together. This scene made a deep impression on us watching TV in Japan and, at the same time, I deeply respected their patience and achievement. However, we have to take a good look at this ﾒhitchhiking adventure.ﾓ Can we say this thrilling trip was real?
This was part of the TV program "susume denpa shounen (Go, Radio Boy)" and was planned following the popular hitchhiking series by Saruganseki, another Japanese comedy duo, who hitchhiked through the Eurasian Continent from Hong Kong to London in about half a year. Saruganseki also moved us, especially at the goal at Trafalgar Square in London. They had to stay in Calais and find a car to England and went without eating anything for three days. They walked the last 30 kilometers to the goal, taking nine hours to do so. I was really impressed by their stamina over extreme fatigue. Both, Saruganseki and Doronzu, overcame hard circumstances and finally succeeded.
These trips gave us a big dream: no matter how difficult a position you are in or how long the endless road continues, you can surely reach your goal if you never give up and forge ahead. They became acquainted with many people in each area on their way to their goal and received much kindness from them. This TV program conveyed the importance of the spirit of mutual help as a human being, and of peopleﾕs warm hearts and hospitality.
However, what do you think about such hitchhiking? Saruganseki and Doronzu accomplished those difficult trips but couldn't we say that they played a part according to the scenarios of the TV program? It is not too much to say that in a sense these trips were planned and they just obeyed the arranged program, even if it seemed haphazard. In this kind of situation, they were hardly in danger, because all of their trips were televised, which means at least a TV camera crew was there to shoot them and they may have assisted them to find help from the local people. You may cherish the illusion that you can easily hitchhike like them after watching these TV programs, but it is naturally a big mistake. As I said above, this is a "controlled" adventure. Ordinary individuals can not imitate their hitchhiking.
If you want to make such trips as Saruganseki and Doronzu, you need Godﾕs help, because without that it would be a reckless attempt. You may be persuaded of this if you remember the very sad murder case that happened in Peru last year: The victims were two Waseda University students of the Explorersﾕ Club with much experience and full preparation. Thus it is clear that Saruganseki and Doronzu cannot be models for us to follow.
