Travelling during Golden Week 2019

Hi All!

I will be travelling to Japan and when I booked my tickets I did not realize it was during Golden Week! My dates are Apr. 23 - May 2. I am travelling to Osaka from Tokyo on the 29th (Showda day). I'd like to know if I will be able to get a seat on a Hikari or Kodama Shinkansen and if more people will travel on the 27th, 28th since Showda day falls on a long weekend this year. Thanks!

How big is your group? Are we talking 1 person or 10?

If you're a party of 1 I suspect you will be able to book a Hikari or if worse comes to worse if you are starting at Tokyo Station it's not that hard to get a non-reserved seat.

I use to love going to Japan during Golden Week and I wish I still could. The azaleas and wisteria are beautiful.

Enjoy!

We are a party of 6!

Reserve your tickets as soon as possible after you arrive...you have almost a week....hopefully you will be successful....

What is your entire itinerary? If your long trip is only one from Tokyo to Osaka on 29th April, you don't need to consider Japan Rail Pass (since you wrote Hikari and Kodama, I guess you are thinking of JRP).

This year's Golden Week is exceptionally long and we can't predict the impact. Yes 29th is in the midst of the holiday season, but still there will be 7-8 holidays after 29th so there will be some people going out of Tokyo on this day.
You can see the vacant seat in Cyberstation website, but it is valid only 30 days in advance.

I checked the airfares of ANA and Skymark from Tokyo to Osaka on this date, and found that they are rather expensive, meaning that these companies predict high demands on this date.

If your long distance travel is only from Tokyo to Osaka and you want to secure the seat, you might better take ANA's promotional fare for foreign tourists (you just select your country which is not Japanese, you will automatically find the cheap promotional fare of 72 USD). Note that the promotional fare is only applied for a few flights (evening flights).

So we will be travelling Tokyo to Osaka on the 29th, Osaka to Kyoto and back to Osaka on the 30th, then Osaka to Tokyo May 1.

Stay in either Osaka or Kyoto for such short trip as they are less than an hour apart.

So we will be travelling Tokyo to Osaka on the 29th, Osaka to Kyoto and back to Osaka on the 30th, then Osaka to Tokyo May 1.

So you will stay 9 nights in Japan, 7 nights in Tokyo and 2 nights in Osaka (Kansai region including Kyoto). Well, it depends on personal preference, but I (am a Japanese) think you might better stay more nights in Kansai (preferably in Kyoto). Or if your interest is to Tokyo, you might better dedicate all of your nights in Tokyo. There are some "Kyoto-like" places near Tokyo, such as Kamakura.

During Golden Week, the business travel will decrease. Tokyo/Osaka is the business center of Japan but as I posted above, Airline companies think the travel between Tokyo/Osaka will increase during this time. Apparently this increase is due to tourism demand, and the flow will be Tokyo to Osaka in the beginning and Osaka to Tokyo in the end. Tourists want to start early to have more time in the destination (Kansai region in this case) and come back late to Tokyo. The airfare reflects these situation: Tokyo to Osaka flights are expensive in the morning and Osaka to Tokyo flights are expensive in the evening. Therefore if you take the Shinkansen with the JRP, you may encounter difficulties finding the morning Hikari to Osaka and evening Hikari to Tokyo.

You are travelling in the middle (a Monday), hardly a peak day. Many Japanese are annoyed by the long holiday as they lose income and will suffer financial hardship. Plus, the travel period is very spread out, longer than a usual GW - and in a normal year, it is not a problem anyway - too much scare-mongering - it's not like New Year or Obon.

We will be in Japan during GW as well but travel opposite way. Will we have issue finding seat from Kyoto to Tokyo on either late Friday April 27 or early Saturday April 28? We have 8 in our group and will hold JR pass.

Thanks

Hi!
I have the same situation, travelling on Saturday 27th from Kyoto to Tokyo with JRpass, family of 5. I tried getting advice, but no one seems to be sure what to expect this year :(. I will reserve seats of course, but on 22., when I arrive. I am the most concerned about getting around the stations with 2 kids and getting from Tokyo station to Ueno on Saturday.

From Tokyo station to Ueno is going to be an easy ride with eg Yamanote Line. On Saturday there isn�ft any rush hour.
If you are concerned if you have enough hands for luggage and kids, either travel super light or ship most of your luggage the day before from Kyoto to Tokyo by Takyubin. Then you don�ft need to battle with luggage on the train and with to many things (and kids) to keep under control during the ride.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Thank you LikeBike for your advice!
Normally I wouldn't be worried, however it will be the first day of the golden week period. There are a lot of warnings online, that this years holidays will be even worse than before. On the other side, some people say that it won't be that bad, because departures will be more spread, not everybody will travel during the first days.
Thank you and best regards!