The New Year’s holiday has begun for many Japanese workers, marking the beginning of a major travel rush:

According to the above video report, today and tomorrow will be the busiest days for departures. About 100,000 people will be departing Narita Airport in a two-day period, and express trains will be very crowded. Most of the Shinkansen lines have sold out all their reserved seats, and unreserved cars will be operating at 150-180% capacity on some of the lines!

The return rush is expected to hit its peak around January 6th.