JTB said the survey shows that 526,000 Japanese are expected to travel overseas the 10 days April 27 through May 6, a period that includes several national holidays and two weekends. That would be an increase of 4.6 percent from last year, but the smallest increase in five years.
Last year, Golden Week travel to Hawaii exceeded expectations. Surveys before the holidays predicted 57,000 Japanese would visit the islands but in the end the total was more than 64,000.
Several U.S. cities rank behind Hawaii as the favored overseas holiday destination for the Japanese, followed by the Guam-Saipan area, the JTB survey said.
The travel agency surveyed 2,000 men and women age 18 or older throughout Japan in early March, asking them about their Golden Week travel plans.
Travel within Japan is likely to decline from last year because there are three working days within the holiday period. Tour operators say those who plan to travel overseas must take those days as vacation.
Golden Week begins with Greenery Day includes May Day and Constitution Day and ends with Children's Day on May 5. Because that is a Sunday it will be celebrated on the following Monday. That means visitors from Japan, which is a day ahead of Hawaii, will be able to leave the islands on the Sunday, Hawaii time, and make it home in time to go to work Tuesday.