Golden Week (in Japanese: ゴールデンウィーク), or Ōgon Shūkan, is a week of holidays starting from April 29th through early May in Japan that essentially results from the clustering of several national holidays in a short timeframe. Japanese Shōwa Day (April 29), Constitution Day (May 3), Greenery Day (May 4), and Children’s Day (May 5) make up Golden Week which can vary in length depending on how the holidays fall each year. During this time, most of Japan takes a break from school and work, and with the exception of the predominant Covid years, this results in a huge spike in travel both within Japan and to neighboring nations. Because of the way the four major holidays of Golden Week fell this year, we had two days of school on May 1st and 2nd in between holidays, so I opted to avoid the steep prices and traffic jams of a long weekend getaway by staying in the Kanto Region for some more local sight-seeing and events.
Shōwa Day, the first holiday of Golden Week, is dedicated to the birthday of Emperor Shōwa Hirohito who reigned as the emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989. On this day, I visited a restaurant that was a time capsule back to the Shōwa era with music, figures, and posters depicting popular culture and miscellaneous advertisements from the period.
On Constitution Day, I visited Tokyo Disney Sea with friends and got to experience part of The Tokyo Disney Resort's 40th Anniversary celebration! The park was not nearly as crowded as I feared it would be and the weather was mostly beautiful all day which made for an amazing time from start to finish. We arrived at the park right when it opened and stayed all the way until closing, seeing several shows, riding various rides, and trying delicious (and very cute) Disney snacks. Tokyo Disney Sea is certainly a unique theme park experience, even compared to other Disney parks, and is a must if you have the opportunity!
For the last few days of Golden Week, I visited various shrines and sightseeing locations around Tokyo and Yokohama including Odaiba and the Rainbow Bridge, the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses, Ueno Zoo, and more. On Children's Day in particular, I visited several locations that had yatai (festival food stalls) and koinobori (carp streamers) in celebration of the holiday. Growing up, I have celebrated Children's Day with my family many times before, but it was an amazing experience getting to participate in celebrations in Tokyo this year. Overall, my first Golden Week experience was enriching in many ways and I look forward to the many holidays and festivals to come during my semester in Tokyo!