Heading Home for the Holidays, Crowds Fill Shinkansen Bullet Trains in Preparation for New Year’s Celebrations

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:08 JST, December 27, 2025

Passengers board a Shinkansen bullet train at JR Tokyo Station on Saturday as many head home for the year-end and New Year’s holidays. “I’m worried about my parents, as they experienced the powerful earthquake [on Dec. 8],” said a 45-year-old woman from Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, heading to her parents’ home in Misawa, Aomori Prefecture. “I’ll help fix their furniture so they can relax during the holidays.” According to East Japan Railway Co., as of 10 a.m. Saturday, passenger capacity for non-reserved cars on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen services leaving Tokyo was as high as 130%.