Travel surges during Golden Week holidays in Japan

About 2,958,000 passengers boarded Shinkansen and limited express trains between April 28 and Wednesday, up by about 5.7 times from last year’s Golden Week holidays, according to JR companies.

Passenger numbers on the Tokaido Shinkansen lines surged by about 5.3 times and the Sanyo Shinkansen lines saw passenger numbers jump by about 4.9 times from the previous Golden Week holiday period.

But holiday traffic on the Shinkansen and JR-operated limited express trains plummeted by 74% compared to the 2019 Golden Week holiday, before the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

On average, traffic volume on major expressways stood at 28,900 vehicles per day, about twice as many as last year, according to surveys conducted by expressway operators.

On Tuesday, a tailback 41.1 kilometers long affected drivers near the Kawagoe Interchange on the inbound lanes of the Kanetsu Expressway in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.

Traffic volume on average was down by 43% from the 2019 Golden Week holidays.

Between April 29 and Wednesday, All Nippon Airways Group had about 410,000 domestic passengers, 11 times more than last year, and Japan Airlines Group had about 320,000 domestic passengers, about 8 times more than last year. Both tallies mark decreases of just under 40% from the 2019 Golden Week period.

The two airlines had about 10,000 passengers aboard international flights.