Akihiro is planning to spend some of his New Year's holiday at a hot spring resort.

"We haven't decided exactly where yet, but somewhere close to Tokyo. My work schedule only gives me a few days off," he said while browsing through a rack of brochures with his girlfriend at a travel agency inside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo.

Akihiro (he declined to give his last name) is one of an estimated 30.16 million Japanese planning to go somewhere during the New Year's break, which generally lasts from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3.