‘Golden Week’ holidaymakers’ return rush in Japan to peak on May 6

FUKUOKA — The return rush of Japan’s “Golden Week” holidaymakers began on May 5 and is expected to peak on expressways and public transportation on May 6, the last day of the holidays.

Many people spent the holidays in their hometowns and travel spots as this is the first Golden Week since Japan downgraded COVID-19 to Class 5 under the infectious disease control law in May last year.

According to West Nippon Expressway Co., as of 5:30 p.m. on May 5, there was a 17-kilometer traffic jam on the inbound lanes of the Kyushu Expressway near the Hirokawa Interchange in the Fukuoka Prefecture town of Hirokawa. In addition to the Hirokawa Interchange, the section near the Tosu Junction in the Saga Prefecture city of Tosu, where the Kyushu Expressway is connected to the Oita Expressway, is expected to see traffic congestion up to 10-km long on May 6.

According to Japan Railway group companies, passenger numbers on nonreserved-seat cars of the Kamome No. 22 train, which departed Nagasaki Station at 10:44 a.m. on May 5, on the Nagasaki Route of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line was up to 24% above capacity. On Nozomi express trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, where all seats are reserved during the Golden Week holiday period, the reservation rate for inbound trains is expected to peak on May 6, and bullet trains departing Fukuoka’s Hakata Station on the afternoon of the same day were almost fully booked.

(Japanese original by Shizuka Takebayashi, Kyushu News Department)