Japan’s Golden Week Holiday May See 2% More Travelers

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:07 JST, April 3, 2026

With this year’s Golden Week holiday period running from April 25 to May 7 and making it easy to take an extended holiday, 24.47 million people are expected to travel domestically or internationally for one or more night, according to estimates released by JTB Corp. on Thursday. That is a 1.9% increase from the same period last year.

The number of domestic travelers is projected to rise 1.7% to 23.9 million, while overseas travelers are expected to increase 8.5% to 572,000. However, average spending per person on domestic travel is forecast to fall 2.1% to ¥46,000, marking the first decline in six years, or since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height.

Although accommodation fees and other costs remain high due to inflation, spending may be dampened by an increase in short trips, travel to closer destinations and trips using one’s own car.

Average travel expenses for overseas trips are projected to rise 2.2% to ¥329,000. Nearby destinations such as South Korea and Taiwan are reportedly popular.

The survey was conducted online from March 6 to 11 — soon after the start of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran — with a sample size of 10,000 people.