Six hours parked on the overnight Shinkansen

At Gifu-Hashima, the first overnight Tokaido Lumiere Express sat still for about six hours. The lights stayed on. One rider had expected the quiet to help with sleep, then found how clearly you could hear people snoring. Even so, without the rocking, the rider felt less worn out in the morning than after a night bus. That August run left Tokyo at 10 p.m. and got to Shin-Osaka at 6:59 a.m., early enough for the first Kuroshio south. A regular seat cost ¥15,000. In one of those seats, a rider tried sitting sideways across the row of three and felt the window table dig into their back. Lying down didn’t leave room to stretch their legs. They tried the train again in September, dozed several times on the way to Shin-Fuji, and barely slept once it stopped for the night.