The annual midsummer rush for the Bon holidays peaked Friday as airports, railway stations and roads grew crowded with summer holidaymakers.
Since the bullet trains were expected to be crowded throughout the day, Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said it would conduct 366 bullet train runs on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, the most in a single day since the high-speed train service was launched in 1964. The line links Tokyo with parts of northern Honshu.
The first Tokaido Shinkansen Line train of the day left JR Tokyo Station at 6 a.m. packed at 130 percent over capacity, and the bullet train platforms were crowded as well.
Meanwhile, at Tokyo's Haneda airport, the departure lobby was filled with people.
Domestic flights departing Haneda were almost fully booked, domestic carriers said. The return flights Tuesday and Wednesday will mostly likely be full, they said.
Roads and highways out of Tokyo were also congested.
Traffic was backed up 38 km from Takarazuka-higashi tunnel on the Chugoku Expressway in Hyogo Prefecture and 21 km around the Takasaka service area on the Kanetsu Expressway in Saitama Prefecture.
