The top 10 things foreign tourists visiting Japan want to do during Golden Week

Survey reveals a growing interest in facilities and experiences with beautiful scenery outside of central Tokyo.

Now that Japan has eased its travel restrictions and relaxed its requirements for inbound travellers, more and more foreign tourists can be seen on the streets of Tokyo, especially in downtown areas such as Shinjuku and Shibuya.

However, there are a lot of other exciting places to explore outside of downtown Tokyo, especially during the annual Golden Week holidays, a string of national holidays at the end of April and early May, when a variety of events and special package deals are on offer for travellers.

So what kinds of facilities and experiences might foreign tourists to Japan be interested in at the moment, now that Golden Week is once again upon us? Well, Klook, a travel and experience booking platform, recently revealed the “Top 10 Popular Spots & Experiences During Golden Week”, based on the number of searches made on their site last year.

The first list covers the Tokyo metropolitan area, which extends beyond the main metropolis, so let’s take a look at last year’s top 10 searches during Golden Week, shown below.

At the very top of the list is Tokyo Disneyland, which is located in neighbouring Chiba Prefecture. 

In second place, we have Shibuya Sky, the 46th-floor outdoor garden and observation deck at the top of Shibuya Scramble Square, a dining, shopping and office space complex that opened in Tokyo in 2019.

▼ Shibuya Sky is a hotspot for those wanting a photo for the ‘Gram.

In third place is TeamLab Planets, an immersive art museum that opened in Tokyo’s Toyosu in 2018.

Image ©SoraNews24

In fourth place, we have Tokyo Skytree, which, as the highest point in the city, is understandably popular.

Image ©SoraNews24

In fifth place, we have “Mt Fuji Daytrip Tour“, which suggests a lot of foreign travellers are keen to squeeze in a trip to Shizuoka or Yamanashi prefectures — both home to the mountain — while visiting Tokyo.

▼ Located around three hours from Tokyo by car or bus, a daytrip to Mt Fuji –and the onsen town of Hakone — is easily doable.

In sixth place, we have more interest in Mt Fuji, with the “Kawaguchiko/Mt Fuji Flower Festival Tour“. Kawaguchiko is one of the famous “Fuji Five Lakes” that surround Mt Fuji (and the station itself is worth a visit), while the flower festival is the “Shibazakura Festival“, where masses of pink shibazakura (“lawn sakura”) come into bloom in May.

The rest of the list is evenly divided between activities within downtown Tokyo and those outside it.

7. Kimono Rental in Asakusa 
8. Sanrio Puroland (located in the Tokyo suburb of Tama City)
9. Akiba Go-kart Experience (located in Akihabara)
10. Hitachi Seaside Park (Ibaraki Prefecture) and Ashikaga Flower Park (Tochigi Prefecture)

Casting the net a little further, Klook has also revealed its results for the top 10 searches involving nationwide activities during the same period.

Surprisingly, the results aren’t too dissimilar, except for a few activities in Osaka:

1. Tokyo Disneyland (Chiba)
2. Universal Studios Japan (Osaka)
3. Shibuya Sky (Tokyo)
4. TeamLab Planets (Tokyo)
5. TeamLab Botanical Garden (Osaka)
6. Tokyo Skytree (Tokyo)
7. Mt Fuji and Gotemba Premium Outlets Daytrip Tour (Shizuoka)
8. Kawaguchiko/Mt Fuji Flower Festival Tour (Yamanashi)
9. Harukas Observatory “Harukas 300” (Osaka)
10. Kimono Rental in Asakusa (Tokyo)

The results show that a lot of foreign tourists are now becoming more interested in sights and activities further out from the big cities, with a number of floral landscapes now making the lists.

Every site listed is a great place for taking photos to share online, which just goes to show how powerful social media is for inspiring tourists’ destination choices. If that’s the case for you, there are plenty of other off-the beaten path travel destinations waiting for you as well, and some that are hidden in plain sight, like this golden escalator in Tokyo, which is perhaps the most perfect spot to visit during Golden Week!

Source, images: PR Times unless otherwise noted
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