Golden Week 2024 by the numbers

The 2024 Golden Week holiday period will be the first since the Japanese government moved away from COVID-19-related social and travel restrictions and reduced the legal status of the virus to the same as that of seasonal flu. Both of these policies came into effect on the first day back at work after last year’s Golden Week holiday period.  

(Away from the crowds in the Yoro-Keikoku Valley, Chiba Prefecture, during Golden Week in 2023.)

Given the passage of time then, there is unlikely to be much of a sense of the floodgates having been opened in time for Golden Week 2024, more likely a feeling of back to business as usual, for those spending the period in Japan at least. 

Over 23 million travelers

In their annual survey-based report on travel trends during the Golden Week holiday period published in early April, Japanese travel agency JTB forecast that 23.32 million Japanese will be hitting the road during the holidays this year for trips of one night or more, up just 1.8 percent from the forecast for the previous year.

The number of travelers heading overseas during Golden Week 2024, however, was forecast by JTB to see a significant rise of 67.7 percent from the previous year to 520,000. With the number of travelers forecast to head overseas during the Golden Week holiday periods between 2014 and 2018 hovering around 550,000, this year’s forecast shows something approaching a return to Golden Week norms. Expect long lines at the international terminals then. 

1 in 5 taking 10 consecutive days

For many residents of Japan, memories of Golden Week 2019 perhaps comes wrapped in a warm, fuzzy, and dare we say golden glow. That year the stars aligned and arranged the period’s national holidays to present many workers with 10 consecutive days off without needing to schedule an uncomfortable conversation with the boss. Added to this, corona and COVID were nowhere to be found in the daily discourse. 

No such luck with Golden Week 2024 which presents a holiday period broken into two parts. For workers whose schedules follow the typical calendar, Golden Week part one is Saturday April 27 through Monday April 29. Part two is Friday May 3 through Monday May 6.

The three days in between are, by Japanese standards, arguably too many for the average worker to take off with a clear conscience but few enough to present the tantalizing possibility of another 10 consecutive days away from work - long enough to travel long-haul. What to do?

Roughly one in five respondents of a survey carried out by career change support service MS Career said that they planned to take 10 consecutive days of holiday over the Golden Week period this year.

The survey targeted management and administrative workers for whom it tends to be difficult to take consecutive holidays at the end or beginning of the month, according to MS Career. Perhaps then one in five can be considered a conservative estimate of the number of workers who will use their paid vacation days to create 10 consecutive days of holiday over Golden Week. 

South Korea, Seoul the no. 1 overseas destination

In terms of the most popular overseas destinations among Japanese travelers during Golden Week 2024, South Korea, including the country’s capital Seoul, tops a number of reports and rankings.

In the JTB Golden Week travel trends report South Korea was the top destination among respondents of a survey behind the report, selected by 20.8 percent of respondents, followed by Southeast Asia (16.7 percent), and Taiwan (13.5 percent). 

By contrast, in 2019 when Golden Week presented travelers with 10 consecutive holidays the top destinations were Southeast Asia, Europe, and Hawaii, according to JTB. With the way the Golden Week holiday period is structured this year, shorter stays closer to these shores seem to be the trend.

In their own Golden Week trends report published in early April, Japanese travel agency HIS found a similar selection of popular overseas destinations among Golden Week travelers. 

Based on bookings already made for its tours and travel packages the top five Golden Week destinations, unchanged from the previous year, were: Seoul (South Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Honolulu (Hawaii), Bangkok (Thailand) and Busan (South Korea). 

New entries into the top 10 destinations were Hong Kong at no. 6 and Jeju (South Korea) and no. 10, according to HIS.

Golden Week budgets somewhere around 30,000 yen

Among the 22.8 million Japanese forecast by JTB to travel domestically, staying at least one night, during Golden Week in 2024, the average cost per person per trip was expected to be 36,100 yen, including transportation, accommodation, souvenirs, meals, and other expenses.

Meanwhile, the average unit price of HIS domestic tours and travel packages booked for Golden Week this year was 102,900 yen. The unit price of tours and travel packages to Okinawa, the most popular Golden Week destination in Japan among HIS travelers, was 121,900 yen. 

The most popular domestic destinations for HIS tours and travel packages during Golden Week 2024 were Okinawa, Hokkaido, Nagasaki, Tokyo, and Fukuoka, according to the HIS report.  

A separate survey carried out late March through early April by market research firm Intage Inc., showed that the average Golden Week 2024 holiday budget was 27,857 yen among the respondents (men and women aged between 15 - 79 years).  

This was similar to the previous year but significantly higher than the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022 when the average Golden Week budgets among the Japanese were 15,908 yen and 16,407 yen, respectively. 

Among travelers heading overseas the average cost per person was forecast by JTB to be 269,000 yen. 

The average unit price for HIS overseas tours and travel packages booked for Golden Week this year was 204,900 yen. 

Over 380 traffic jams topping 10km expected

Operators of Japan’s highways, including the Nippon Expressway group companies (NEXCO), issued a Golden Week traffic jam forecast in late March. 

According to the forecast, outbound and inbound traffic jams over 10km in length are expected to occur 386 times during the Golden Week period from Friday April 26 through Monday May 6.  

All roads lead to Rome, so the saying goes. In terms of holiday highway traffic conditions in Japan however, all roads lead to, or away from, Tokyo.  

Sunday May 5 is forecast to see the highest number of traffic jams for drivers heading towards Tokyo - a direction referred to as nobori (上り) in Japanese - as holidaymakers try to get home with time to spare for a day of recovery before starting back at work. Friday May 3 is next, for drivers heading away from Tokyo (kudari (下)) and in the direction of their holiday destination.

Traffic jams of up to 45km are expected on sections of the Chuo and Tomei expressways (both connecting the greater Tokyo and Nagoya urban areas) on peak travel days. 

840,000 seats reserved on JR East shinkansen 

As of April 11, 840,000 seats on shinkansen bullet trains operated by JR East, the largest of the Japan Railway group companies, had been reserved for the 11-day Golden Week period from Friday April 26 through Monday May 6, according to the operator whose services largely handle destinations north of Tokyo.  

A total, 2,620,000 seats are available for reservation on shinkansen trains operated by JR East during Golden Week.

For the same period, 1,390,000 out of 4,870,000 seats available on shinkansen services operated by JR Central had been reserved, according to the operator whose services include the busy Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations. 

JR West, whose services include the recently extended Hokuriku Shinkansen between Tokyo and Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture, said 824,000 seats out of a possible 3,290,000 had been reserved.