Golden Week wraps up with travel chaos at Haneda and Shinkansen packed

Golden Week's end hit hard this year. Haneda was absolutely slammed, and the bullet trains weren’t much better. I saw folks talking about 120% seat occupancy. It’s always wild to me how predictable this surge is, yet every year it still feels chaotic. Props to anyone who timed their return early or just stayed put till the crowds thinned out. I used to think traveling during Golden Week was worth it for the energy and buzz, but these return rush scenes always make me second guess it. Anyone feel like the staggered holidays actually helped this time?