What to expect during Golden Week 2018?

Hi all,

We are planning to visit Tokyo and nearby prefectures on 21 Apr-5 May 2018. The reason why we chose the date is the airfare and just in time for nemophilia at Hitachi Seaside Park and Shibazakura. We are aware that the second week will coincidence with Golden Week. The article on Japan Guide mention most will leave Tokyo. Our destination will be mostly mountains, museums (not theme park), and some tourist sites e.g. Nikko, Hakone probably on the first week. We are not planning to travel far from Tokyo. The furthest might be Ibaraki and Niigata.

What can I expect on how Golden Week will be on those places? Will there be less business (e.g. shops, food, etc) in Tokyo?

Hi!

As you mention, so many people leave Tokyo in Golden Week for local cities in Japan and for the world. Most of shops are open on the GW, so you don't need to mind.
But you need to take into account that some of the public tranporation (shinkansen, flights etc.) may be easily full. People leave Tokyo at the beginning of GW and come back at the end, so you should take the opposite way, stay outside of Tokyo until the beginning of GW, then come to Tokyo and leave Tokyo at the end of GW to avoid the uncomfortable stay. You also need to book hotels in advance.

Enjoy your trip!

Many things you probably will not notice as the number of shops and other places that close are limited. Where you might see a difference are extra domestic tourists, harder to book accommodation and some trains more full than usual. You many not even strike busy trains as the travel days are mainly at the beginning and end of the "week" and unlike the short holidays (NY and Obon) the travel is more spread out. My travels the last few years in GW there is not much difference to other weeks IMO.

Hello, I'm sorry for the late reply, and thanks so much for the advise.

Hope I can get one more advise. I'm planning to fly out from Tokyo on 30 April 2018 for Narita International Airport. Are the train and airport likely going to be very crowded due to Golden Week effect? And does Odaiba considered as an attraction place during Golden Week?

Thank you.

I flew out of Narita this GW and while the airport was okay, I had a problem with the train. It still worked out, but I arrived only 1 h prior to my intercontinental departure...

So I would advise to buy the train ticket (reserved seat) a day or two early. In my case I simply arrived quite late to Nippori (due to a problem on Yamanote line), lined up to buy a ticket but when it was my turn no tickets for the next train were available anymore and I needed to take the following 20 min later.

Alternatively you can plan your trip to the airport using local trains only (i.e. trains without need for reserved seat), but they take longer.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

30 April 2018 is inside golden week. The real "mayhem" going to and departing from Narita is at the start - so 28th or 29th (and maybe a bit on the Friday evening 27th). I recall the entertaining tv coverage from this year.

Hi i will go to japan on 28 apr to 12 may could anybody advise what is the best trip during the golden week? We just notice about this golden week after book the ticket 😅

"best" trip is very subjective - depends what you like to do. Plan as if GW was not on and then see which places give problems for things like accommodation.

We visited the Hitachi Seaside Park and Shibazakura during the GW 2 years ago. The places were
very crowded as expected. Luckily we managed to take the earliest bus from Kawaguchiko for the Shibazakura; the crowd was not that big then.

We visited the Hitachi Seaside Park and Shibazakura during the GW 2 years ago

Hi, how was the nemophilia at Hitachi Seaside during your date of visit? We have decided to avoid GW this year, but either to shift it to earlier or later date (4th week of March or 2nd week of April), which means either when Nemophilia just started to bloom or going to wither. Which one is a better option?

Hi, how was the nemophilia at Hitachi Seaside during your date of visit?

We visited the park precisely on 2nd May 2016. We thought the timing would be perfect for the flower. Alas, the bloom came 2 weeks too early; the peak was voluntarily over when we arrived, luckily still 80% left.

The biggest problem with golden week is trains and accommodation. Restaurants in touristy small towns can also be a problem.

For certain days, don't expect to be able to easily get train tickets or even be able to get on non reserved carriages. I once stood on a Shinkansen from Yamaguchi to Nagoya with my luggage on my back.

The people above know dates better than I. So to put it simple, book accom and transport. It might also be possible to book some long distance buses online unlike problems with only being able to book train tickets in Japan...

Thank you for the advise!

We have decided on the date. We'll be flying in before GW and returning on 1 May, planning activities within Tokyo from 28 Apr (Sat) to 1 May. I wonder if restaurants and shopping center/district which are usually have queue will get more crowded? We saw from TV about some famous cafes in the Shibuya/Shinjuku/Harajuku areas and wondering if this is the good time to have lesser crowd.

Also, will there be less activities around local business such as Tsukiji market?

Thank you.