I approached a man having dinner and asked if he could write «Osaka» on my sign. While we talked, a mother and daughter approached to ask about my journey. As we chatted, an elderly couple listening in came over to offer me dessert and jellies. The kindness was overwhelming.
Then, a surprise: the man who had drawn my sign started speaking to me in Spanish! It turned out he had studied in Seville and lived in Barcelona. He offered me a place to stay, but since he was heading in the opposite direction, we shared a sandwich and said our goodbyes. I rolled out my mat and sleeping bag under a table and called it a night.
Those first few days taught me a vital lesson: almost no one spoke English, and I would have to survive on my improvised Japanese.
The next morning, another truck driver took me straight into the heart of Osaka.