Many Japanese
workers get about a week off around the end of April and beginning of May.
This is because there is cluster of national holidays during this time.
With four holidays occurring within the week, many businesses are closed
and schools are out. Those businesses that have to remain open can count
on increased revenues as people celebrate the different holidays.
The "week" starts on April 29, a national holiday that used to be celebrated as the birthday of Emperor Hirohito. After his death he was given his posthumous name of Emperor Showa, as is the custom in Japan. The new imperial name means the era of enlightened peace. The emperor died on January 7, 1989 but the Japanese chose to continue to celebrate the day, calling it the Day of Green in reference to Emperor Hirohito’s interest in plants and the environment. He was an expert biologist and was the author of 14 books about biology.
May 3 is Constitution Memorial Day. The present Constitution of Japan came into effect on this day in 1947. May 5 is Children's Day, set aside to pray for the healthy growth and happiness of boys and girls. Because May 4 falls between two holidays, this day, too, was designated a national holiday. The People’s Holiday, which is celebrated on May 4th, was designated as a national holiday for the sole purpose of giving the people of Japan three consecutive holidays. This is a day off just for the sake of having a long holiday! Some companies give employees a day off on May 1, which is May Day.
Shops are open and can expect increased revenues.
The word "Golden Week" was first used by movie companies to get people to take advantage of the "golden" opportunity to go see a film. The term gradually began being used by other people to refer to this string of holidays.
Perhaps
visit the Nara Museum 
Nara's National Museum, featuring Important Ancient Buddhist Artifacts. It has 1000 year-old illustrated scrolls depicting the life and times of Important Ancient Buddhists as well as model temples, statues and ceremonial objects.
Golden Week comes at a very pleasant time of the year in Japan; temperatures are neither too cold nor too hot. Many people thus travel to resort areas. In recent years, increasing numbers have been traveling to foreign destinations with their families.
Nara-koen park, an enormous park that is the home of over 1000 deer. In this region, deer are considered sacred, and it is forbidden to harm them. The deer know this and have become quite bold. Rumor has it they'll take food right out of a child's hand, regardless of whether or not the child is offering.