In Japan, there are a series of holidays from late April toearly May which they call it as “Golden Week”. During Golden Week, manycompanies are closing to let their employees to have a long nice restand many Japanese people are going off for long vacation. So duringthis period of time, leisure-based industries will be very busy and allflights and hotel rooms will be fully booked!

The Golden Week kicks off in April 30th which is Greenery Day untilthe 5th of May where the Japanese celebrates Children’s Day. A specificGolden Week holidays are listed below, cited from Wikipedia:

Golden Week

April 29

• Emperor’s Birthday (天皇誕生日, Emperor’s Birthday), until 1988
• Greenery Day, or Nature Day (みどりの日, Midori no hi), from 1989 until 2006
• Shōwa Day (昭和の日, Shōwa no hi), from 2007

May 3

• Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日, Kenpō kinenbi)

May 4

• holiday† (国民の休日, Kokumin no kyūjitsu), from 1985 until 2006
• Greenery Day, or Nature Day (みどりの日, Midori no hi) (from 2007)

May 5

• Children’s Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi), also customarily known as Boys’ Day (端午の節句, Tango no sekku).

Many Japanese take paid time off on the intervening work days, butsome companies also close down completely and give their employees timeoff. Golden week is the longest vacation period of the year for manyJapanese jobs. According to P. Sean Bramble, the author of CultureShock! Japan:

The Golden Week is always gorgeous: warm sunshine andwithout any oppressive humidity. Many people if they take a vacation atall, will take it as this time, with the result being that publictransport is clogged with vacationers and air ticket prices increasedramatically.

So, I think if want to travel to Japan, it is better to avoid thisperiod of time because the streets of Japan is flooded with vacationersand no more hotel rooms available! To know how is 2008’s Golden Weekand 2009’s Golden Week locate in the calendar, you can visit the Japan Guide’s article on Golden Week.

Finally, Happy Golden Week to all Japanese people out there!