Golden Week in Japan

Golden Week is Japan’s busiest travel period, running from 29 April to 5 May. Four national holidays fall inside it — Showa Day on 29 April, Constitution Memorial Day on 3 May, Greenery Day on 4 May and Children’s Day on 5 May — and the ordinary working days between them are widely taken as leave, which is how the run stretches to nine or ten days. Shinkansen seats sell out weeks ahead and hotel rates in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka can double, so book transport and accommodation as early as you can.

Which holidays make up Golden Week?

• Showa Day — 29 April, marking the birthday of the Showa emperor.
• Constitution Memorial Day — 3 May.
• Greenery Day — 4 May.
• Children’s Day — 5 May, and the one you will actually see: koinobori, carp streamers, strung above rivers and gardens through late April and early May.

What varies is the gap between 29 April and 3 May. The three days inside it — 30 April, 1 and 2 May — are ordinary working days, so the famous nine- or ten-day run comes not from an extra public holiday but from weekend alignment, the substitute-holiday rule that moves a Sunday holiday to the Monday, and people taking those three days as paid leave. In a badly aligned year it splits into two shorter breaks, which spreads the crowds a little. The Cabinet Office publishes the official list of public holidays year by year — check it rather than assuming either.

What is Golden Week actually like to travel in?

Shinkansen reserved seats sell out weeks ahead in both directions, and the unreserved carriages run standing-room on the first and last days. Hotel rates in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka rise steeply, in places to double. The expressways jam for tens of kilometres, so a rental car is the least flexible option of the week, not the most. Domestic flights and long-distance buses go the same way.

How does Golden Week differ from New Year?

Everything stays open. Unlike the 29 December to 3 January stretch, when independent restaurants, small shops, museums and clinics genuinely close, Golden Week is a holiday people spend going out. Shops, attractions and restaurants all run, often on extended hours. The problem is volume, not availability — and volume is something you can plan around.

How do you travel through Golden Week?

Base yourself in one city and make day trips rather than moving your luggage every second night. Most of the crowding sits in the long-distance transport, so the fewer legs you book, the less of Golden Week you experience. Start early: the major sights are calmest before ten. Consider a less obvious base, too — Kanazawa, Takayama, Matsue and Hiroshima absorb the week better than Kyoto does. Hokkaido is another angle: the cherry blossom front reaches Sapporo in exactly these weeks.

Two to three months of lead time is the minimum for accommodation. Reserved seats go on sale a month before departure, so set a reminder for the morning they open. Everything else worth settling before you fly is in our pre-trip checklist. And if your dates are still flexible, the fortnight after 6 May is one of the best of the year: warm, green and suddenly empty.