Japan's major airports and railway terminals were packed on Saturday with travelers returning from New Year's vacations in their hometowns and overseas, according to airport and railway authorities.
The rush reached a peak Saturday afternoon and it will likely continue through Sunday.
The capacity of many bullet trains exceeded 100 percent, with a Joetsu Shinkansen from Niigata to Tokyo reaching 190 percent capacity on Saturday afternoon, the authorities said.
Reservations for Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya-bound flights were almost fully booked through Monday.