Travelers flocked to airports and train stations for visits to resorts and trips home on Saturday, as Japan kicked off its Golden Week holidays, which run through May 6.
Departure lobbies at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture were crowded with travelers, with families hauling large suitcases forming long lines at airline counters in the international terminal from the morning, local media reported.
An estimated 835,200 people were due to travel through the airport during the 11-day Golden Week period — about 77% of the number during the same period in 2019, before the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, but more than 1.3 times as many as last year, the Narita Airport Corp. said in a news release.