No. of travelers to reach record high as 10-day Golden Week holiday begins

From the morning, there were long lines at check-in and luggage drop counters at Tokyo's Haneda airport as the rush of travelers leaving the capital during the holiday peaked, while the occupancy rate of nonreserved cars of many bullet trains topped 100 percent.

With Emperor Akihito's abdication set on April 30 and the ascent of Crown Prince Naruhito the following day, areas around the Imperial Palace, where related ceremonies will be held -- and other popular spots in Japan -- attracted a wave of tourists.

"This will be a good memory as I wanted to come here before the imperial era changes (from Heisei to Reiwa)," said Junko Suzuki, 48, a housewife from the country's northeastern prefecture of Akita.

Iichi Shimada, 61, a company employee who was on a one-day bus tour from Yokohama near Tokyo said, "I hope Reiwa will be an era without wars or natural disasters, as the Heisei era saw many disasters."

Visitors crowded other tourist spots as well. At the iconic Tokyo Skytree tower, Taishin Kanno, a physiotherapist from the city of Fukushima, said, "Since I started working, I didn't think I can rest for so long like this."

"It is the first day of the 10-day vacation, and speaking of Tokyo, I thought a visit to Skytree would be a start," said the 23-year-old, who was visiting the 634-meter tower with a friend.

The number of holidaymakers from Japan traveling domestically and overseas is expected to reach a record high during the extended Golden Week vacation, according to a major travel agency.

Golden Week -- running through May 6 -- has been lengthened to 10 days for the first time this year to celebrate the imperial succession.

Japanese travel agency JTB Corp said 24.67 million people are set to travel between April 25 and May 5, up 1.2 percent from the same period last year, with 24.01 million on domestic trips and 662,000 going overseas, both record highs.