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golden week

makotobae

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16 Nov 2015
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im planning on going to japan during may and i've heard there's this holiday called the 'golden week'. some sites ive went to say to avoid travelling to japan during this week as tourist sites tend to be very crowded and its very hard to find a vacant accommodation and stuffs like that. im confused about one thing, will everything return to normal like price of prices of accommodation and vacancies once golden week is over or is it throughout the whole of may?
 
Just for the holidays and maybe a short while either side of them. It's Golden Week, not Golden Month.

You have to understand that in Japan we pretty much all take our "vacations" at the same time. There is no custom as in the West of individuals taking extended absences from work for the purpose of leisure at a time of the person's individual convenience.
 
I wouldn't necessarily avoid Golden Week, especially if you're going to a big city such as Tokyo or a place that is not tourist-oriented. Many people leave the city to go other places which means you can get rooms easily and the transportation system is actually less crowded. I had several people visit me in Japan during that time period and it worked out very well even when I took them to places like Kyoto and Hiroshima. If you could though, I'd recommend going to the busy tourist places just outside of the main travel period.
 
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Those are the 2016 holidays. Many people will also be taking May 2nd and May 6th off, so for them, the first day of golden week will be 4/29th, and the last will be 5/8th. << And I'd predict those will be the busiest days, tho some people will try to leave on the 28th, and some might opt to return on the 7th, or even the 9th.

While the trains and planes can be full/crowded, it's the roads that are the real hassle. There are usually pics in the papers and on the news showing endless lines of cars backed up on the expressways.

IMO, I would really try to avoid any movement in Japan on the 7th-8th, but the following two weekends in May, 14-15 and 21-22, will be very quiet travel-wise.
 
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