Golden Week is big business. A cluster of holidays that results in an extended break for most of Japan, it is also a time when huge swaths of the population embark on domestic and international vacations. But this year, due to COVID-19, Golden Week is going to be different.
Although it looks likely to be extended for another month or so, Japan’s current state of emergency is due to end on May 6, the day after Children’s Day — the last in a run of national holidays that make Golden Week such a formidable force.
The government’s advice this year is to hunker down instead of heading out during Golden Week. In Tokyo, at least, it is being promoted as “Sutei Homu Shukan” — “Stay Home Week.”