Railways, airports and expressways in Japan are packed with people heading off to hometowns and vacations during the year-end and New Year holidays.

The mass exodus was peaking on Thursday. Many people are taking trips during the holiday as no coronavirus restrictions are in place for the first time in three years.

Japan Railway companies say Shinkansen bullet trains leaving Tokyo are crowded.

Non-reserved seats of some Nozomi super expresses on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line saw up to 50 percent more passengers than capacity.

Non-reserved seats of some Tohoku and Hokuriku Shinkansen trains were almost fully occupied.

Reserved seats of some west-bound Tokaido Shinkansen trains were all taken on Thursday morning, with some vacancies reportedly left in the afternoon.

All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines say domestic flights leaving Osaka or Tokyo's Haneda are fully or almost fully booked for the day.

Major airlines said last week that more than 2.7 million people have booked flights over the nine days to January 5.

ANA and JAL say their reservations combined have recovered to 83 percent of the figure before the start of the pandemic.

Expressways have begun to see traffic jams. The Japan Road Traffic Information Center says on Thursday morning some sections of the Tomei and other expressways were backed up more than 10 kilometers.