Uchida Yuko, a room attendant, arrives with drinks to welcome passengers. She is sure to have a pleasant smile to greet them.

The cars offer a choice of accommodations: a suite with a salon and bedroom, a deluxe room, or a twin bedroom. The passenger cars have only private rooms—there is no coach seating at all, and this sets Cassiopeia apart from most other trains in the world.

My companion and I have a suite laid out on two floors: the salon is upstairs, ideal for seeing the passing scenery from the comfy sofa. The bedroom is downstairs, with plenty of space for two adults to stretch out and sleep. The compartment is compact, but large enough for every convenience, including a shower, toilet and washbasin upstairs. Toothbrushes, toothpaste and bath towels are supplied, along with comfortable clothing to wear in the privacy of our room.

We stow away our luggage and the train is off to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido.

Almost as soon as we are settled on the sofa there is a knock at the door. It is the room attendant with drinks to welcome us. On her tray are a bottle of wine, a small bottle of whiskey, some ice, and mineral water. She is also here to explain how to use the onboard phone service and the TV—satellite reception, of course. Later, we try out the phone to order coffee. It comes right away!

The scenery switches mainly to farmland once the train leaves the metropolis of Tokyo.

We sip our coffee and look out through the big window. The scenery slips by. We have left the bustle of the metropolis and are now crossing farmland. The setting sun burns red. I look up at the sky and finally understand what true leisure is all about: bullet trains may be ideal for getting there fast, but an overnight express has an appeal of its own—luxury, comfort, leisure.

The restaurant car (reservation only) offers French cuisine and traditional Japanese fare at its best. There is a spacious lounge car as well, a good place to swap travel stories with fellow passengers.

We return to our suite. I decide to take a hot shower, then read a book in bed. But for some reason my eyes keep straying from the page. I look outside. We are passing through the night, a dark night illuminated only by the lights of a few houses.

I lie down, my mind a blank except to notice vaguely how the lights outside become lines streaking past us. I can almost hear them whispering to me: “Now you know: sometimes it’s best to do nothing at all.”

When I wake up it is a little before 5 a.m. I open the curtains. The sea, quiet and sparkling in the morning sunlight, takes up the entire window frame. We are beside Uchiura Bay in southwestern Hokkaido. That means we have already passed through the Seikan Tunnel under the sea between Japan’s two biggest islands, Honshu and Hokkaido. The light is different here: “Now you are in the northland,” says the sunlight dancing on the sea.

The schedule tells me we are still more than three hours from our destination, Sapporo Station. From there we will go to Chitose Airport for a flight back to Tokyo, with no chance for a stopover. This trip has had one purpose only—to ride the train!

The room attendant arrives with cups of wakeup coffee, and another snippet of information: “Some passengers traveling with us are planning to ride back to Ueno on Cassiopeia today.” For some, Cassiopeia offers leisure travel simply for the sake of leisure!