Golden week 2026 trip report
This was my 3rd trip to Japan. 2nd time in Tokyo and 2nd time in Okinawa.
Dates: April 25 - may 2 Okinawa/ May 2 - May 9 Tokyo.
Things were very different in Tokyo this time. Hotels were dirtier, walking was more chaotic, trains were busier.
As a whole I don’t think Tokyo was more busy during golden week but it was a different type of busy instead of the work rush hour there were more tourist and people who clearly didn’t know what their path was.
Places in Okinawa definitely closed for goldenweek but I didn’t have that issue in Tokyo.
Prices for hotels were inflated but there were still options.
I really didn’t like staying in shinjuku and shabuya. We went to Yokohama, kurakama, and the pokemon park so we wanted to stay near a major station but that was not worth it! Those area are overpriced and way to busy. I do not recommend. One extra train transfer is worth staying outside of those area.
Kurakama was terrible, the beach is industrial, the food is not unique or charming. It’s a Japanese LA in the worst way. I got the feeling that ultra wealthy Tokyo people live there as many houses had big gates and a G-wagon or Maserati. It was a real time suck for a mediocre experience.
Yokohama was much better, it was nice to sit and have carnival snacks on the boardwalk. There was shopping and scooter rentals. The buildings are super tall and glassy. We went for starwars day and to collect pokemon lids and just really enjoyed the city with so much to do but less chaos.