In 2027 the spring holidays of Japan, China and Korea pile up in the first days of May. Japan breaks from Saturday 1 to Wednesday 5 May, Korea has 1 to 3 May and 5 May off, and the statutory Labour Day holidays in China are 1 and 2 May. This guide sets out the Golden Week 2027 dates by country, separates what is official from what is still pending, and shows how to plan hotels in Japan and in the Southeast Asian resorts all three markets fly to.
Quick answer: Golden Week 2027 in Japan runs from Thursday 29 April to Wednesday 5 May, with an unbroken five-day break from Saturday 1 May. The Korean holidays fall on the same days, and the China May Day break is expected to as well.
Most years the three holidays overlap only partly. In 2027 they line up. Shaded rows are the five days of the Japanese break.
| Date (2027) | Japan | China | Korea | What it means for bookings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 29 Apr | Showa Day (holiday) | Working day (expected) | Working day | Japanese outbound peak in 2026 fell on this date; many leave the weekend before |
| Fri 30 Apr | Working day, popular for leave | To be announced | Working day | Reunification Day in Vietnam; Japanese with a day of leave fly out |
| Sat 1 May | Weekend, break begins | Labour Day (statutory) | Labour Day (public holiday) | The day we'd expect the heaviest departures from all three |
| Sun 2 May | Weekend | Labour Day (statutory) | Weekend | The busiest border-crossing day of China's 2026 May Day break fell on 2 May |
| Mon 3 May | Constitution Memorial Day | To be announced | Substitute holiday for Labour Day | Domestic travel in Japan in full swing |
| Tue 4 May | Greenery Day | To be announced | Working day (bridge day) | One day of leave gives Koreans five days off |
| Wed 5 May | Children's Day | To be announced | Public holiday | Return peak for Japan, going by 2026 |
| Thu 6 - Fri 7 May | Working days | To be announced | Working days | Holiday over for most travellers in Japan |
| Sat 8 - Sun 9 May | Weekend | To be announced | Weekend | Long-break travellers fly home |
| Thu 13 May | Working day | Working day (expected) | Buddha's Birthday | Korean short break, 13 to 16 May with one day of leave |
"To be announced" means exactly that. The make-up working days in China, which turn a weekend into a working day to pay for the extra holiday, won't be known until the official notice comes out.
Golden Week is not one holiday. It is the name for four national holidays that fall within a week of each other under the Act on National Holidays. The Cabinet Office holiday list gives these Golden Week 2027 Japan dates:
Two rules can add a day. When a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the next weekday becomes a holiday. That's why 6 May 2026 was a day off, after Constitution Memorial Day landed on a Sunday. And a weekday sitting between two national holidays becomes a holiday too. In 2027 none of the four falls on a Sunday, so the official list stops at 5 May.
| Leave taken | Days off in a row | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| None | 5 | Sat 1 to Wed 5 May (plus Showa Day on its own) |
| Fri 30 Apr | 7 | Thu 29 Apr to Wed 5 May |
| Thu 6 and Fri 7 May | 9 | Sat 1 to Sun 9 May |
| All three days | 11 | Thu 29 Apr to Sun 9 May |
The shape is close to 2026, when Showa Day was a Wednesday and the five-day block ran from 2 to 6 May. That makes the 2026 numbers a fair guide for 2027, shifted a day earlier.
The JTB outlook for Golden Week 2026 (25 April to 7 May) estimated 572,000 Japanese overseas travellers, up 8.5% on 2025, against 23.9 million domestic travellers. Korea took 25.0% of the overseas trips and Taiwan 16.3%. Southeast Asia as a whole took 17.5%, and Asia 79.0%.
ANA reported its 2026 international peak as 29 April for departures from Japan and 5 May for flights back. Read across to 2027 and we'd expect departures to bunch on 29 April and on Saturday 1 May, with returns on 5 May. In the JTB survey, the largest single group of overseas travellers left before the holiday started, on or before 24 April.
This is the harder half of the job. JNTO, the national tourism organisation of Japan, describes Golden Week as one of the busiest travel periods in the country, with packed trains and hotels, and tells visitors who must travel in the first week of May to book early. Its holiday guidance also warns that some services may become reservation-only.
Most of the crowd is Japanese. Families travel close to home, by car and by Shinkansen. Seat data from JR Central put the 2026 outbound rail peak on 2 May and the return peak on 5 May, the first and last days of the 2026 block.
Metro Engine Research tracked listed hotel prices for check-ins from 29 April to 6 May 2026. Kyoto averaged about ¥48,900 a room for two, Tokyo ¥41,300, Fukuoka ¥38,800 and Osaka ¥31,000. They are online asking prices, not what anyone paid, but the order is clear. Kyoto is the hardest city to price over Golden Week, and its April and May monthly averages were already up by roughly a fifth on 2025, so the holiday premium sits on top of a rise that runs all year.
Our suggestion for a first-timer who must travel that week: base the Kansai nights in Osaka and visit Kyoto by train.
The International Horticultural Expo, GREEN×EXPO 2027, runs in Yokohama from 19 March to 26 September 2027, and its organisers are aiming for more than 10 million paid visitors. Golden Week sits in the middle of it. We'd quote Yokohama hotels for holiday dates on the assumption that they'll be tight.
The Chinese foreign ministry has advised its citizens to avoid travel to Japan, a notice repeated in March 2026, and flights between China and Japan over the 2026 May Day holiday fell 56.7% year on year, according to aviation data reported by 21st Century Business Herald. Whether the advice still stands in May 2027 is a political question, so we wouldn't build a price on it.
By the 1991-2020 averages of the Japan Meteorological Agency, cherry trees in Sapporo open on 1 May and reach full bloom on 6 May, which used to sit neatly inside Golden Week. Recent springs have run earlier. JMA records show Sapporo opening between 15 and 23 April every year from 2021 to 2026, while Wakkanai and Kushiro opened on 1 and 3 May in 2026. Clients chasing blossom over Golden Week usually need to go further north or east. Our cherry blossom forecast 2027 for travel agents has the city-by-city picture.
Live rates for these dates are on our Japan hotels page and the Japan B2B travel agent portal.
Golden Week 2027 in China means two breaks: May Day in spring and National Day in October. For May, the short version is that the 2027 dates aren't out. As of 1 November 2026 the State Council General Office has not published its notice on the 2027 holiday arrangements. It normally arrives in November. The 2026 notice came out on 4 November 2025, and the 2025 one on 12 November 2024.
What is fixed in law is the core of it. Since 1 January 2025, Labour Day has been two statutory days, 1 and 2 May (State Council Decree No. 795). When that change was announced, the official explanation also set out the working rule: a five-day Labour Day break, built from the statutory days, a weekend and make-up working days, normally needing only one make-up day.
In 2026 the China Labour Day holiday ran from Friday 1 to Tuesday 5 May, five days, with Saturday 9 May as a make-up working day.
In 2027, 1 and 2 May are a Saturday and a Sunday, so the five days have to take in weekdays on one side or the other. Chinese media are projecting Friday 30 April to Tuesday 4 May with one make-up day. That's a projection. We'd plan around 30 April to 5 May and adjust the day the notice is published.
Over the 2026 May Day break, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism counted 325 million domestic trips, up 3.6%. The National Immigration Administration handled 11.279 million border crossings by Chinese and foreign travellers, 2.256 million a day on average, and the busiest day was 2 May with 2.529 million.
As for where they went, online travel platforms' top May Day picks for 2026 included Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore, according to 21st Century Business Herald. Flights to and from Korea rose 9.4%, more than any other international market. The same report noted that some carriers cancelled Southeast Asia flights over the holiday after jet fuel prices doubled. Any 2027 capacity forecast made now is a guess.
China has a second golden week. National Day, from 1 October, is a seven-day break under the same rules, and the 2027 dates will arrive in the same State Council notice. When a client asks about "golden week 2027 October", that's the one. For the Spring Festival peak in February, read our Chinese New Year and Ramadan 2027 peak dates guide.
Korea has no holiday called Golden Week, but in 2027 its May holidays run alongside the Japanese ones. May in Korea also changed in 2026. Labour Day (1 May) became a public holiday for everyone, public servants and teachers included, and it carries the substitute-holiday rule, according to the Ministry of Personnel Management.
| Holiday | 2027 date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Labour Day | Saturday 1 May | Falls on a Saturday, so Monday 3 May is a substitute holiday |
| Children's Day | Wednesday 5 May | Midweek, no substitute |
| Buddha's Birthday | Thursday 13 May | 8th day of the 4th lunar month |
The official 2027 calendar from the Korea AeroSpace Administration lists 1 to 3 May as one of ten breaks of three days or more in 2027. The lunar converter of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute puts the 2027 date at Thursday 13 May.
Under the Korean Regulations on Holidays of Government Offices, if any of these May holidays falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the next non-holiday day becomes a substitute holiday. In 2027 only Labour Day triggers it. The government can also add a one-off temporary holiday by Cabinet decision. None has been announced for May 2027. One on Tuesday 4 May would turn 1 to 5 May into a single break, so it's worth checking again in March.
Without that, one day of leave on 4 May gives Korean workers five days, and one on Friday 14 May gives them 13 to 16 May.
For the 2026 May break, the Korean Ministry of Justice put extra immigration staff on at Incheon from 30 April to 5 May because Labour Day overlapped Golden Week in Japan. Incheon Airport expected about 1.3 million international passengers in that window, 215,000 a day (Yonhap). Packages sold by Hanatour departing between 1 and 7 May 2026 were roughly 30% China, 23% Japan and 14% Vietnam. Japanese visitors arrive in Seoul and Busan on the same days Koreans fly out, so do not assume Seoul hotels go quiet. See the South Korea B2B portal for live rates.
Your clients probably aren't Japanese, Chinese or Korean. More likely they're families from India, the Gulf, the Philippines or Europe who want a beach in early May. In 2027 they'll compete with three large source markets on the same five days, and the short-haul resorts those markets choose are the ones your clients ask for.
Our approach is simple. Price the dates the client wants, then price a check-in on Thursday 6 May, after the outbound wave from all three markets on paper, and put both on the quote. Clients pick quickly when they can see the difference.
One honest limit: we don't have resort-by-resort figures showing how far each property moves over Golden Week. It varies by hotel, and the only reliable view is live rates for the exact nights.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| November 2026 | Read the 2027 State Council holiday notice when it appears and update China dates on open quotes. Hold refundable rooms in Kyoto and Tokyo for clients fixed on Golden Week. |
| December 2026 | Quote Southeast Asia beach stays for 29 April to 5 May. Confirm transfers and tours for those dates at the same time as the hotels. |
| January 2027 | Re-price held bookings against live rates. Release anything the client has not committed to. |
| February to March 2027 | Work through the Chinese New Year and Ramadan peaks. Check the cherry blossom forecasts for Hokkaido. Watch Korea for a temporary holiday. |
| 29 March to 5 April 2027 | Shinkansen reserved seats for 29 April to 5 May go on sale, at 10:00 Japan time one month before each travel date. |
| Early April 2027 | JTB usually publishes its Golden Week outlook in early April (the 2026 edition came on 2 April). Use it for a final read on Japanese demand. |
| Two weeks before travel | Check every cancellation deadline, pay or release holds, and send the client a short briefing on crowds and transfer times. |
Peak-week rates tend to come with harder terms: earlier deadlines, more non-refundable rates and minimum stays. With the China dates still open and a Korean holiday possible, the cancellation terms matter as much as the price. This is how it works on DMC Quote.
Our rule for Golden Week files: book refundable while the dates can still move. Switch to a cheaper non-refundable rate only once the client has paid and nothing about the dates can change.
The hotel cancellation policies guide explains how to read the charge steps, and the wallet guide covers top-ups.
Some of this page will change before May 2027.
The 2027 holiday notice from Beijing is still to come, and its make-up working days decide who travels on 30 April and 5 May. Korea could add a temporary holiday. The demand figures above are 2026 results, used as a pattern rather than a forecast, and 2026 showed how fast airline capacity can move when fuel prices jump. The China-Japan travel advice could be lifted or extended. We'll update the China rows when the notice is out.
And one thing outside our scope: we don't sell flights. You'll need your own air supplier alongside the hotels, transfers and tours you book with us.
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Golden Week 2027 runs from Showa Day on Thursday 29 April to Children's Day on Wednesday 5 May. The longest stretch without taking leave is five days, Saturday 1 to Wednesday 5 May, because Constitution Memorial Day and Greenery Day fall on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 May. There is no substitute holiday in 2027.
Not confirmed yet. Labour Day is two statutory days, 1 and 2 May, and the State Council rule is a five-day May Day break that uses make-up working days. The 2027 notice had not been published on 1 November 2026; it usually appears in November. In 2026 the break ran from 1 to 5 May.
Labour Day is Saturday 1 May, with a substitute holiday on Monday 3 May, so 1 to 3 May is a long weekend. Children's Day is Wednesday 5 May and Buddha's Birthday is Thursday 13 May. One day of leave on Tuesday 4 May gives Korean workers five days in a row.
The holidays end on Wednesday 5 May 2027, the last of the four national holidays. Japanese travellers who add Thursday 6 and Friday 7 May as leave stay away until Sunday 9 May, so expect return flights and trains to stay busy into that weekend.
Only for clients who accept crowds and higher prices. JNTO, the national tourism body, calls it one of the busiest travel periods of the year, with packed trains and hotels. The weather is usually pleasant. If the dates can move, the second half of May is calmer and easier to price.
No. Shops, attractions, restaurants and transport keep running, and most are busier than usual. Some offices and smaller businesses close or shorten their hours, and some popular services switch to reservation-only, so book timed-entry attractions and key restaurants in advance.
In 2026 Japanese travellers favoured Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Chinese platforms listed Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore among the top May Day picks, and Korean package bookings leaned to China, Japan and Vietnam. Expect pressure on Bangkok, Phuket, Bali, the Vietnamese beach cities and Singapore from 29 April to 5 May 2027.
Yes, in China. National Day on 1 October starts a seven-day break under the State Council holiday rules, and the 2027 dates will come in the same notice as May Day. Japan has no October golden week; its 2027 autumn holidays are single days and long weekends.
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