Back to work, foo!

Ｕターンラッシュ、きょうも続く
日テレNEWS24

New Year's in Japan is a time most celebrate with family. For this reason, the time around New Year's (nen-matsu nen-shi, 年末年始) are some of the busiest of the year. As the majority of the population center around cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, at the end of the year they head back to their hometowns in the "country" (furusato, ふるさと) to visit parents and relatives.

The "U" comes into play, when they all "turn around" and return to the city, hence U-Turn Rush (written: Uターンラッシュ in katakana). Basically, all methods of transportation become hell-on-earth from the traffic on the highways to the floods of people at the airport. When traveling on the Shinkansen (新幹線), all of the reserved seats fill up (even the first class Green Car seats) and you'll find people standing in-between cars and in the aisles of the non-reserved cars.

I've never been one to travel during peek season, so I've always been able to avoid the mess. Even this year, I made sure we were back home early to avoid the rush. Arriving back in Kanazawa on a rapid train, we were the only people left in our car.

Hopefully, your New Year's was as good as mine. Now, it's back to work!