Golden Week spending drop

Japan’s Golden Week is shaping up to be cheaper and quieter at home this year, with average holiday budgets falling to ¥27,660. (jiji.com) That figure is down 5.4% from 2025, according to a late-March online survey by research company Intage of 5,000 people ages 15 to 79 across Japan. The same survey found 40% of respondents had no holiday plans. (jiji.com) The holiday stretch runs from April 29 to May 6 in 2026, with a five-day block from May 2 to May 6 and longer breaks possible for workers who take extra leave on April 30, May 1, May 7, and May 8. (gotokyo.org, jtbcorp.jp) Golden Week is one of Japan’s busiest travel periods, so a drop in planned spending points to households pulling back even when the calendar is favorable for trips. Intage’s survey said the 2026 budget was the lowest since 2023, after a record ¥29,237 in 2025. (jiji.com) A separate outlook from JTB shows the pullback is not simply about people staying home. JTB projects domestic Golden Week travelers will still rise 1.7% from a year earlier to 23.9 million, nearly back to the 24.0 million seen in 2019. (nippon.com) What is changing is how people travel. JTB expects average domestic trip spending to slip 2.1% to ¥46,000, with one-night, two-day trips rising to 39.9% and longer three-night, four-day trips falling to 16.2%. (nippon.com, jtbcorp.jp) JTB said people are shifting toward nearby destinations and more modest plans, including more travel by private car. In its survey, 45.8% of nontravelers said Golden Week is too crowded, 34.6% said travel costs are too high, and 24.3% said their household budget is too tight. (jtbcorp.jp) The picture overseas is different. JTB expects the number of Japanese traveling abroad during the same period to jump 8.5% to 572,000, with average spending rising 2.2% to ¥329,000 and South Korea, Taiwan, and China ranking as the top destinations. (nippon.com) So the 2026 Golden Week story is not a collapse in travel demand so much as a squeeze on domestic holiday spending. More people may still move around Japan, but more of them appear set to do it on shorter, cheaper trips. (jiji.com, nippon.com, jtbcorp.jp)