Some 68.1 million people spent their Golden Week holidays at major tourist attractions or events this year, an increase of roughly 14.3 million from last year, the National Police Agency said Monday.

The figure was the third-largest since the NPA began taking a tally in 1986.

Agency officials attributed the jump to the holiday period being two days longer than last year and the generally good weather during the nine days spanning April 29 to May 7.

The agency's figures show the annual Hakata Dontaku Minato Festival in Fukuoka Prefecture attracted the most visitors, with about 2.2 million showing up this year. It is the 15th straight year in which the event has come out on top.

In second place was the Hiroshima Flower Festival, which attracted roughly 1.41 million people. It was followed by the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival in Aomori with about 1.36 million visitors.

The number of people who went mountain climbing during Golden Week came to about 185,000, a rise of roughly 6,000 from last year.

A total of 82 people needed to be rescued, up 15 from the previous year, officials said.

Mount Usu hits travel

Hokkaido Railway Co. suffered a 9 percent decline in passengers during Golden Week due to the recent eruption of Mount Usu in the southeast of the prefecture, while 16 major private railway firms across the country enjoyed an average 3.8 percent increase over the previous year, company officials said Monday.

Six JR group companies carried a total of 9.92 million passengers between April 28 and May 7, down 1 percent from last year.

But JR Hokkaido saw a sharp decline in passengers on a section between Higashi-Muroran and Tomakomai, which pushed the total far below the previous year's level, the railway operator said.

Those who used the section came to about 68,400, down 21 percent from the previous year, the company said.

Eleven domestic airlines, however, reported a record high in the number of passengers taking international flights during Golden Week, hitting 230,000, up 11.8 percent from the previous year.

But the number of passengers traveling within Japan fell 6.7 percent to 2.34 million from April 29 through May 7.

Airlines partly attributed the increase in international passengers to this year's extended holiday period. Fear of Y2K problems reduced the number of international tourists in January, which may have contributed to the upsurge in Golden Week traveling, airline companies said.

Road deaths down

A total of 208 people nationwide died in traffic accidents during the Golden Week holidays, marking the lowest figure since 1986, the National Police Agency said Monday.

According to the NPA, the figure was 20 fewer than the number of traffic fatalities during the April 29 to May 7 period last year.

Agency officials attributed the fall to the rise in overseas travelers during the holiday and fewer people opting to go to a domestic location by car.

NPA officials said traffic accidents during the nine days totaled 16,516, down 3.4 percent from last year.

The number of people injured in such accidents was 20,897, down 2.9 percent from last year, they added.