Golden Week gets cheaper
JTB Corp. reports that Golden Week travel costs in Japan are expected to fall for the first time in six years as domestic travelers favor shorter trips and more economical transport choices (nationaltoday.com). Coverage says the shift comes even as overall domestic movement rises, indicating cheaper, shorter trip patterns (nationaltoday.com).
Japan’s Golden Week trips are getting cheaper this year, even as more people plan to travel inside the country. (jtbcorp.jp) JTB said on April 2 that the average planned cost of a domestic trip during the April 25 to May 7 holiday period will be 46,000 yen, down 2.1% from a year earlier. Domestic traveler numbers are still expected to edge up to 23.9 million, or 101.7% of last year’s level. (jtbcorp.jp) The drop is tied to shorter itineraries and cheaper transport. JTB said one-night, two-day trips will make up 39.9% of domestic travel plans, up 6.4 points from last year, while travelers are increasingly choosing nearby destinations and private cars for short distances. (jtbcorp.jp) Golden Week is one of Japan’s busiest travel stretches because several national holidays bunch together in late April and early May. In 2026, May 2 through May 6 forms a five-day break, and workers who add leave on April 30 and May 1 can stretch that to eight days. (jtbcorp.jp) JTB has tracked Golden Week travel since 1969, and this year’s survey points to a market where people still want to go somewhere but are trimming time and cost. The company said domestic travel spending overall is forecast at 1.0994 trillion yen, or 99.5% of last year, despite the rise in traveler numbers. (jtbcorp.jp) The survey also shows why some households are holding back. Among people not planning a trip, 45.8% 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) Among people who are traveling, the main reasons are less about sightseeing than time together. JTB found 28.5% cited spending time with family, 25.9% named food and local specialties, and 24.8% said they wanted to relax. (jtbcorp.jp) The pattern is different overseas, where JTB expects 572,000 travelers, up 8.5% from last year, and average spending of 329,000 yen per person, up 2.2%. Nearby destinations such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia are leading demand, while Europe and North America still draw interest. (jtbcorp.jp) So the 2026 holiday picture is not a retreat from travel so much as a reset in how people take it: more domestic departures, more one-night breaks, and less money spent per trip. (jtbcorp.jp)
