Golden Week trips to Shikoku

Japan’s Golden Week travel rush is getting bigger, but many travelers are trimming costs and shifting to shorter domestic breaks. (nippon.com) JTB projects 23.9 million domestic travelers during the April 25 to May 7 holiday window, up 1.7% from a year earlier and nearly back to the 24.0 million recorded in 2019. Total domestic and overseas travelers are forecast at 24.47 million. (jtbcorp.jp) (japannews.yomiuri.co.jp) The spending pattern is moving the other way. JTB says average planned spending on domestic trips will fall 2.1% to ¥46,000 per person, the first decline since 2020, while one-night, two-day trips will rise to 39.9% of domestic travel plans and trips of three nights and four days will drop to 16.2%. (jtbcorp.jp) (nippon.com) JTB’s release says domestic travelers are increasingly choosing nearby destinations, private cars and shorter itineraries as prices stay high. In the same survey, 45.8% of people who were not traveling said Golden Week crowds were the reason, and 34.6% cited high travel costs. (jtbcorp.jp) That helps explain the appeal of places like Shikoku, Japan’s smallest main island, which tourism officials market as accessible from Osaka in about 100 minutes and from Hiroshima in about 60 minutes. The regional tourism site pitches bus passes, driving routes and two- to five-day itineraries across Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime and Kochi. (shikoku-tourism.com) Golden Week itself runs from April 29 to May 6 in 2026, with the core five-day holiday falling on May 2 to May 6. MATCHA, a Japan travel publisher, says the period combines Showa Day on April 29 with Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children’s Day in early May. (matcha-jp.com) (jtbcorp.jp) Big-city demand has not disappeared. Tokyo guides for this year’s holiday list events including the Showa Kinen Park Flower Festival in Tachikawa and the Omiya Bonsai Festival in nearby Saitama, while Osaka guides highlight the Nakanoshima Festival and the Osaka Maishima Seaside Park Nemophila Festival. (matcha-jp.com) (japantravel.navitime.com) Osaka travel guides are also telling visitors to use the regular workdays on April 30 and May 1 to avoid the heaviest crowds. JTB’s survey points to a similar spread in departures, with May 2 the top departure day at 19.6% but a notable 14.5% leaving on or before April 24. (japantravel.navitime.com) (jtbcorp.jp) The result is a Golden Week that looks less concentrated than the old Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka script. More people are still going somewhere, but the survey and tourism pitches point to a holiday shaped by shorter stays, closer destinations and a wider map. (jtbcorp.jp) (shikoku-tourism.com)