THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
April 28, 2024 at 13:24 JST
Holidaymakers weighed down with luggage board a Hokuriku Shinkansen train at JR Tokyo Station on April 27. (Wataru Sekita)
Millions of Japanese started their Golden Week holidays by crowding train stations and airports as they headed to their holiday destinations and hometowns.
Overseas travel was out of the question for many people due to the weak yen.
Predictably, JR Tokyo Station was packed to the rafters as people started fleeing the capital April 27 to spend the holiday period with family members and friends.
Travel departures are expected to reach their peak on May 3, with return trips hitting their busiest on May 5 and 6, according to Japan Railway group companies. The Nozomi trains on Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines will operate with all seats reserved until May 6.
The platform of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line, which was extended in March from Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture, was crowded with families holding souvenir bags and other items.
Makiko Awano, 45, a self-employed woman from Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture, and her 7-year-old son were off to visit her eldest son, who is attending senior high school in Kanazawa.
“We will visit a library and a museum, and enjoy delicious food,” she said, adding that she hoped her sightseeing trip would contribute to reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by the Jan. 1 earthquake.
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