On May 3, passengers at JR Tokyo Station will be crowded with tickets gates. Wataru Sekita Travelers swarmed the Tokyo Station on May 3 for trips to their hometowns or other destinations as the latter half of the Golden Week holiday period began.
A couple of trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, which departed Tokyo Station between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., were carrying 40 percent more passengers than capacity, according to the Central Japan Railway Co.
Saki Endo, a 32-year-old company employee, was standing in line for unreserved seats on a bullet train to return home in Shiga Prefecture.
In the morning, I stayed at home because I found out through Twitter just how congested Tokyo Station was, Endo said. My husband was almost giving up on finding a seat after seeing the Twitter posts. The weekend occurs on May 1, which is Constitution Day, a series of national holidays leading to the weekend.
But some workers are taking nine consecutive days off from April 29 for their Golden Week holidays.