Golden Week (GW), one of a few of Japan’s holiday periods where we have a national holiday on 29 Apr followed by 3 holidays in a row in the beginning of May. And when Saturday and Sunday are located between (or the beginning/end of) these holidays, we Japanese people can enjoy a longer holiday, that could go on for a week or up to 10 days. And many office workers are ‘allowed’ to use their paid holidays to make it a long holiday, then touristic spots get packed.
29 Apr – Showa Day （Former Emperor’s (1901-1989) birthday)
03 May – Constitution Day
04 May – Greenery Day
05 May – Children’s Day
Though Governors of big cities insisted that people should not go out during GW to prevent the spread of COVID-19, people are fed up with staying at home!
Fortunately, I ran a couple of tours to Takachiho Gorge and Mt Aso during Golden Week this time. The first one was on 3rd May, in the middle of GW. What I saw there at Takachiho Gorge and Mt Aso was lots of tourists! Not only Japanese but also some foreigners who should be living in Japan were seen here and there. I had expected that people would not go out being scared of the further spread of the virus, but they didn’t seem to be worried about that. Yes, we are Japanese who are well disciplined not to bother anyone around. WE believe we can get through this by wearing a mask and frequent hand washing, until the vast majority of us get vaccinated.
03 May – Takahiho & Mt Aso tour
The second tour was run on 6 May, which was for a family.
Shoot me an email or text massage. And I’ll take you on a great tour.
Email: schingo.tk@gmail.com
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LINE: Hashizaki Schingo
