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r/JapanTravel•
AndroidWorker

What's traveling right after golden week like?

We'll be coming to Tokyo next year in the middle of Golden Week, we'll stay there for 3 weeks. We're prepared for the transport to be difficult until 7th of May - but what happens after that? Is it still difficult to book lodgings and are trains still packed more than usually?

We're trying to determine when to use our week long JR pass, should we wait a week and start traveling further from Tokyo after the 14th of May?

Posted Sep 28, 2016, 12:32 PM UTC

210
Le_Deplorable•

It calms down fairly quickly and returns to normal by and large. But really even during golden week it's not like travel is impossible, you might have to stand sometimes for a bit as reserved seats on trains are booked out at times, but even that doesn't happen too often outside of the extreme peak days near the start/end. It's somewhat overblown I'd say. Finding decent accomodation in certain places is the more annoying thing, but if you book early, and you have plenty of time right now, it's a non-issue.

Your travels will be less crowded and perhaps more 'enjoyable' as such after golden week sure, but I wouldn't structure my entire trip around it and waste all that time in Tokyo because of it, (unless you have some things you really want to do for three entire weeks there).

2
AndroidWorkerOP•

Thanks, its not our first trip to Japan but we've never been there during national holidays.

We tend to follow a 3 week routine - a week in Tokyo, then a week riding trains around the country, and another week in Tokyo. By Tokyo I mean any trips that we can do in 1 day and still return to sleep in our rented apartment.

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myschlongsprettylong•

I arrived in Tokyo last year during golden week and didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary (except perhaps the hotel prices). Takeshita dori was as crowded as ever, Edo-Tokyo Open Air museum had kodomo no hi activities but wasn't very crowded.

Left for Kyoto on may 6th. Shinkansen wasn't full and I got a seat on the right to see Mt. Fuji. Nothing out of the ordinary crowd-wise over there either.

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AndroidWorkerOP•

Glad too hear that, for some reason I had this image of the whole country rushing to visit all the popular spots.

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gibagger•

Seconding this. I unwittingly planned a trip around Golden Week. I only noticed it was golden week because some locals thought I had planned my trip around Golden Week so they asked about it.

Kyoto attractions were a bit less croweded than average, had 0 troubles with shinkansen, the stations never seemed overly croweded. I wouldn't have realized it was a huge national holiday.

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pichuru•

I didn't really notice if it calmed down or not. Keep in mind Tokyo and most of its surrounding areas are crowded any day of the year regardless of holidays. I visited Tokyo and Kamakura during that time and have been back since, the crowds are the same. Train was crowded as usual.

Just make sure your lodgings are booked well enough in advance and you should be fine.

1
GHDpro•

I was in Japan during that period in 2012 and I can't recall any problems.

If your itenary isn't fixed yet, you might want to see Sanja Matsuri fits in your schedule.

In 2017 it's on Sunday May 21. It's a really cool festival with big crowds. This might affect hotel availability though (esp. near Asakusa); best to book in advance.

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AndroidWorkerOP•

We're leaving Japan before the 21st, so sadly we'll miss it :(

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reaper527•

i was there shortly after golden week this year, and it was great. my trip was 5/10-5/20. i got an absurdly good deal on the price ($650 round trip) and got reasonable rates on all the hotels. none of the places we went to were absurdly crowded either.

some jr trains were over packed during the commuter rush hour, but i'd imagine that's going to be the case no matter when you go.

i wouldn't worry at all about traveling after golden week. (also, the weather was amazing. it was hot, but not too hot, and it only rained once [but wow did it rain the day it did])

none of the shinkansens we got on were ever anywhere near full (in the unreserved cars at least).

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bubblyjiggly•

You can start travelling a day or two after, since most people don't extend too many days past Golden Week. Travelling during is a pain also because everything is quite expensive. If you wait a week, it'll definitely die down.

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