Golden Week (Japan) operator checklist for F2P live-ops and UA

Golden Week compresses Japan session peaks and partner staffing.

2026 calendar anchors

National holidays clustering as Golden Week include Shōwa Day 29 April, Constitution Memorial Day 3 May, Greenery Day 4 May, Children’s Day 5 May, with a substitute holiday 6 May 2026 when Children’s Day falls adjacent to the weekend pattern. The Immigration Services Agency Golden Week 2026 notice links Japanese and English PDFs for regional bureau open/closed days—use that packet for partner-hours planning, not as a player-behaviour study.

Checklist

1. Holiday block on calendar — 29 Apr plus 3–6 May 2026 marked; confirm substitute holiday treatment with JP counsel/HR.
2. Creative localisation — JP-only GW skins; no recycled CNY art.
3. UA pacing — Daypart and budget caps for 29 Apr and 3–5 May peaks; avoid assuming weekend CPMs.
4. Live-ops — Event timers in JST; CS macros for GW login queues.
5. Partner SLAs — Media, MMP and PSP Japan contacts’ out-of-office mapped from the ISA-style holiday discipline.
6. Store featuring — Check App Store/Google Play JP featuring windows separately.
7. Rollback — Post-GW creative teardown date.

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Research checked 20 September 2026. Local draft; human review pending. Author null.