visiting Tokyo during Golden Week: yes or no?

I think it depends on how comfortable you are with crowds and likely higher prices for hotels. You might wish to check out this Tokyo Cheapo article: https://tokyocheapo.com/travel/holidays/tokyo-golden-week-tips/
Planning ahead would be essential.

I haven't been in Tokyo during Golden Week, but I have been there during the height of Sakura season. I am not sure how much worse (or better) it may be for Golden Week. I would encourage you not to be afraid of Tokyo even if there are crowds.

First of all the Japanese themselves are very orderly and know how to move from one place to another without needing to crowd or shove. You will only find those issues in areas that are frequented by lots of overseas tourists. If you find crowds an issue, you can focus on some of the less traditional "must see" spots and those locations that do crowd control by timed entry (Team Lab Planets is a timed entry example).

What interests you most about Tokyo? What is important for you to see and experience? I personally would avoid areas like Asakusa which were the ultimate tourist crowds/tourist trap locations.

We were in Tokyo at the end of GW earlier this year and it was fine. Even our train from Tokyo to Kyoto the last day of GW was fine. But we were sure to book ahead that train as soon as that date became available I think it’s 3O days and planned extra time to get through the train stations. I would say no worse than any other big city. I would say no reason to avoid.

If helpful to your plan we stayed in Ueno neighborhood near the train and subway stations and park of that name. It was convenient for us as we arrived Narita airport and the express train goes directly there. The park had museums temples and lots of green space. And the little alleys nearby have many fun food options. Enjoy the planning!

Thank you very much adgalani, Carol, and Laurie for your replies. It sounds like visiting Tokyo during Golden Week would be (mostly) fine. My goals are to see a baseball game, go stationery shopping, visit an animal cafe, and go to the Yayoi Kusama museum, so having extra time before the tour starts would be helpful especially as the tour ends in Osaka so I might fly home from there. Much appreciated!

I visited Japan right after GW arriving on Monday. It was fine but I had just missed the hectic of it all. I booked that way on purpose. I think it can be manageable if you book your tours and activities ahead of time.
For animal cafe, I went to an owl cafe which was actually not a cafe at all. I researched one where animals were fairly treated, and the place was great. You basically have 1 hour to hang out with a group of owls (no food allowed, and it's peaceful and visitors keep voices low). If that's of interest, it's called Owl Cafe Akiba Fukurou Tokyo. I booked ahead.

Going to Tokyo during or shortly after Golden Week isn't all that much of a problem, in my experience. Tokyo always has millions of people anyway! You'll just want to be extra focused on planning ahead, and if you might go to other places from Tokyo, purchase train tickets in advance. You can get advance tickets for the Yayoi Kusama Museum, baseball games, etc. and reservations for animal cafes. There are many kinds of animal cafes to choose from. I don't know how Kusama's death this week might impact the museum and its exhibitions. Another possibility is to take a food tour of a neighborhood to help you slide into your first trip to Japan. Book your hotel early, because hotels will be busy. And enjoy!

We spent a couple weeks driving around Kyushu immediately after Golden Week. We didn't notice. I would expect Tokyo to be no more crowded or chaotic than at any other time (at least not enough to be evident to a first time visitor).

Based on your interest to see baseball game I had the following link for purchasing tickets as we did for a Swallows game. Giants are maybe more popular. But Swallows and their stadium more like our local team the Cubs.

https://www.yakult-swallows.co.jp/en

As it explains on there Apple Pay and Google Pay are the only accepted payment methods for them at least if you want in English from the US.

The tickets are released at various points in the season for the upcoming week based on a certain schedule.

So you can look ahead set your alarm clock and get on line when your available dates open. I looked back and I purchased our tickets for May 28 on April 18. Note our game day was not in Golden Week. We were in Tokyo a few days at the begining of our trip and a few days again at the end of our trip and saw the baseball at the end. If I remember correctly our game day was near the beginning of the range of dates that became available at that time, so the time was shorter between purchase date and game date than it might be otherwise. Just note of course the day/time for release of tickets on their calendar is Japan day/time. For our trip I did a lot of bookings for trains, museums, events etc. in early evening USA time which was morning the next day open in Japan time.

I believe there are also organized group tours with tickets and guide available for baseball games through third parties. But we did direct on our own easily with no Japanese language skills. And we had a great evening with second row seats!

Enjoy the planning!

Thank you Joy, David, happytotravel, and Laurie for your additional responses and your bonus advice on booking tickets for Tokyo sights! I'm so very excited for this bucket list trip--I've been wanting to go to Japan for well over 30 years. Many thanks for your kind help.