book review of before the coffee gets cold

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A chance to redo the past in ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’

Time travel and café culture yield a lovely, wise brew in a translation of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s popular play-turned-novel.

• By Terry Hong Correspondent

November 19, 2020

Originally debuting onstage in Japan, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” won praise and awards for its playwright, Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Its popularity inspired Kawaguchi to adapt the play into his first novel in 2015, producing a quirky, sigh-inducingly satisfying read that became an international bestseller. A film adaptation followed in 2018. This month, the English edition translated by Australian Geoffrey Trousselot finally arrives stateside, ready to charm American audiences. 

Welcome to Funiculi Funicula, a small café in a narrow back alley in Tokyo, established in 1874. Beyond a few minor renovations, little has changed beyond the requisite addition of electricity. A married couple, Kei and Nagare, are the current owners, while Nagare’s cousin, Kazu, a university student, helps out when she’s not in school. 

Regular customers casually wander in and out with familiar ease, with the exception of a woman in a white dress who is always seated in the same seat at the same table, most often absorbed in reading her book, “The Lovers.” She is, in fact, a ghost who neglected to follow the café’s most important rule – to finish drinking before the coffee gets cold. 

Funiculi Funicula is no ordinary café. That certain chair at that certain table is actually a time portal. Only when its usual occupant vacates the seat to visit the restroom (yes, even ghosts need relief) can a (living) customer attempt a temporary visit. The rules are many, but the most important is tied to the coffee: Travel commences when Kazu pours a fresh cup of java; to avoid becoming a permanent specter, the traveler must conclude the short visit and drain the cup before the liquid becomes cold. While time can be defied, the present will not, cannot be, changed. 

In four intertwined chapters, Kawaguchi invites readers to accompany four intrepid adventurers who desire a second chance at a crucial conversation in their lives. No-nonsense businesswoman Fumiko is desperate to be more open and vulnerable during her last meeting with her boyfriend Goro before he makes a job transfer to the U.S. Nurse Kohtake wants one more opportunity to talk to her husband Fusagi before Alzheimer’s made him forget too much – including her. Bar owner Hirai needs to talk to her younger sister Kumi, whom she’s been avoiding for too many years. And then co-owner Kei, who is pregnant, wants a glimpse into the future to meet her unborn child. 

As a first-time novelist, Kawaguchi’s writing isn’t quite comparable (yet?) to some of his globally revered compatriots – think Haruki Murakami, Yoko Tawada, Banana Yoshimoto, and Kenzaburō Ōe. His narrative is occasionally uneven and tends to meander – readers might like to know why Kazu is the only one able to pour the brew, for example, while the description of Hirai’s family’s historic business could have skipped a few irrelevant details. The new author is also sometimes repetitive, and his sentences aren’t always exactly elegant. 

And yet, where Kawaguchi excels is undoubtedly more essential: He has a surprising, unerring ability to find lasting emotional resonance. Interwoven into what initially feels like a whimsical escape are existential conundrums of love and loss, family and freedom, life and death. “[N]o matter what difficulties people face,” Kazu muses at book’s end, “they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose.”

That purpose is indeed clear, and audiences worldwide seem ready for more. A sequel, “Before Your Memory Fades,” hit shelves in 2018 in Japan. Also translated by Trousselot and titled “Tales from the Café” for English readers, the book is already available in other predominantly English-speaking countries including Britain and Australia. The U.S. edition is hopefully soon to follow, complete with Kazu’s warning admonition: “Drink the coffee before it gets cold.”

Terry Hong writes BookDragon , a book blog for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center .

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“Before the coffee gets cold” Explores The Interiority of Time Travel

“If you could go back, who would you want to meet?” This epigraph is simply all that needs to be asked before stepping into the cafe depicted in “Before the coffee gets cold.” Written by former producer, writer, and director for the Sonic Snail theatrical group Toshikazu Kawaguchi, this breakout semi-anthological novel portrays a cafe where it is possible to return to the past.

Toshikazu plays with science fiction and fantasy artfully, outlining a simple and easily comprehensible magic system that gives way to much larger stories of life, grief, and regret. Time travel in fiction is a pesky thing filled with contradictions and complexities, but Toshikazu lays out a system of time travel that is unconvoluted and beautifully simple: there are just five rules. As the cafe’s waitress explains in the book’s first few pages, there is no leaving the cafe in the past, therefore you can only meet whomever has been to the cafe before, and under no circumstances can you alter the present by visiting the past. By removing the possibility of cause and effect, Toshikazu creates a story where the time travel is secondary to the development of characters.

Toshikazu lays out four stories of four travelers that utilize the cafe’s mysterious service. The novel is split into four sections detailing the stories of these travellers, but along the way, the lives of the cafe’s staff are illuminated. As the stories progress, the shifting spotlight is slowly revealing the true subject of the novel — Kazu Tokita; the waitress whose coffee pour allows for time travel.

While the stories that Toshikazu details are character studies that explore grief, struggle, regret, and finding meaning in life, it is Kazu’s story that ultimately ties the patrons of the cafe to one another and unifies the novel. Toshikazu’s theatrical past is evident in his choice to split the novel into four pieces where each act remains situated solely in the setting of the cafe. Each disparate story does not blend into one another besides the presence and involvement of Kazu’s pour and the characters of her life that surround her.

Weaving stories through Kazu’s life slowly chips away at her tough and stoic exterior to reveal the past that she grapples with. Through the dissection of Kazu’s customers’ past mistakes and regrets, Kazu’s sorrows and grievances are also illuminated. It is not simply through the lessons taught by each character that Toshikazu reveals the purpose of the novel, though, but also through the slow burn of Kazu’s story alongside these other narratives. The entire novel is not fully settled until Kazu, to whom the audience has slowly grown attached as one of the only constants in the novel, receives the same treatment as other guests to the Cafe. Solemn and difficult to interpret, Kazu’s impenetrable past is the slowest and most important story that is wrapped only at the conclusion of all four acts.

Toshikazu writes sorrowful stories that somehow still leave you feeling content with their conclusions. As one story suggests, the happiness that we can glean from sadness and sorrow is the meaning that we give to that feeling of sadness. The premise that the present cannot be manipulated by time travel already presents stories of grief as hopeless, but this novel shows that although the past cannot be changed, the future is still malleable and open to shifts in direction. The characters of the stories that Toshikazu portrays accept the rule that the past is unchangeable, but their futures, or the futures of those they influence in the present, are undoubtedly changed by the cafe’s power to time travel.

Toshikazu is able to use a literary trope as complex and convoluted as time travel to reveal our relationships to the past and our obligation to do what we can to make sure the past is not in vain. This charmingly magical novel is about discovering happiness despite the pasts that we desperately want to revisit. Even when we can revisit our past, our future happiness is up to us to discover and create.

—Staff writer Joseph P. Kelly can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @JosephP_Kelly

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Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Book Review

Before the Coffee Gets Cold,  to say in a straightforward way, is a captivating and thought-provoking novel written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, a Japanese novelist. It was first published in 2015, and the book seamlessly weaves the genres of magical realism and contemporary fiction, making it a unique and memorable reading experience. Anyone who has gone through the novel, from the first to the last page, may agree with the assessments made right at the beginning of this book review article. However, let me make it clear at the outset that the novel may not be suitable for everyone. It might not conform to the contemporary reading habits of youths. The slow progress may hamper readers’ concentration at times. However, it does offer a thought-provoking literary experience if you are patient enough to let the novelist tell his story. So, if you are ready, read this book review of Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Kawaguchi.

So, first, let’s discuss what happens in the novel Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Set in a cosy little café named Funiculi Funicula, tucked away in the heart of Tokyo, the novel revolves around a mysterious time-travelling chair hidden in a corner of the café. The chair is no simple chair. It has magical powers as you may see in science fiction movies. It grants visitors the ability to travel through time but with one significant caveat: they can only travel to the past, and they must return to the present before their coffee gets cold. The narrative is divided into four interconnected stories, each centred around a different character seeking solace, closure, or redemption by using the chair to revisit pivotal moments in their lives. Here are the brief summaries of every character’s motifs in the novel:

1. Fumiko Kiyokawa’s Story: Fumiko, a regular customer at the café, decides to time travel to the past in an attempt to reunite with her boyfriend, who abruptly left her years ago without explanation. Through her journey, she discovers the importance of embracing the present and finding closure. Fumiko’s story is emotional and may resonate with young readers at large.

2. Kohtake Hirai’s Story: Like Fumiko, Kohtake’s story is also about love and emotional reunion… however, with a difference. Kohtake wishes to see his wife one last time before her memories fade away due to Alzheimer’s disease. He ventures back in time to share a heartfelt conversation with her and learns the significance of cherishing the moments they had together. This episode may convey the message of the importance of living in the present and living to the full potential (as much as you can).

3. Yasue Hanazawa’s Story: Yasue desires to reconcile with her sister, whom she left behind after a bitter family dispute. With the help of the time-travelling chair, she strives to heal their fractured relationship and find forgiveness before it’s too late. This one, like the previous two stories, is also emotional and conveys important messages to readers.

4. Kei Tokita’s Story: Kei, the younger sister of the café’s manager, has her own secret reasons for wanting to travel through time. Her journey explores the complexities of family bonds and the power of acceptance.

Throughout the novel, the characters grapple with their past decisions and emotions, seeking resolution and understanding as they utilise the chair’s magical abilities. Their journeys demonstrate the significance of living in the present, letting go of regrets, and cherishing the connections that shape their lives. The time-travelling element serves as a catalyst for introspection and personal growth, ultimately reminding readers of the importance of embracing life’s fleeting moments before they slip away like a cup of coffee gone cold.

Critical Analysis of the Novel and the Novelist’s writing style:

The first thing I would like to discuss is the writing style of the novelist. Kawaguchi’s writing style is beautifully descriptive, painting vivid scenes that effortlessly transport readers to the quaint café and the various time periods explored in the book. The prose is delicate, enhancing the emotional depth of the characters and their struggles. Each character’s journey is meticulously crafted, providing a window into their past experiences, regrets, and desires. And everything appears in the best order, in harmony and symmetry that elevates the experience of readers.

Talking about the themes of the novel, one cannot help himself but appreciate the author’s exploration of the complexities of human relationships and the consequences of our actions. The way the author has treated these serious issues is truly commendable. The stories touch on themes of love, loss, forgiveness, and the passage of time. Kawaguchi artfully raises philosophical questions about the nature of regret, the importance of seizing the present, and the profound impact of even the smallest actions on the course of one’s life. It is a blend of philosophy, psychology, elementary spirituality and human Karma…

And I would also like to mention that Before the Coffee Gets Cold effectively captures the essence of Tokyo and Japanese culture, which adds an extra layer of authenticity to the narrative. The novel offers a glimpse into the city’s bustling life, traditional rituals, and the enduring values of family and honour.

And summing it up together, one of the book’s strongest attributes is its ability to evoke a range of emotions. As readers follow the characters on their emotional journeys, they are likely to experience joy, heartache, and introspection. The novel’s heartwarming moments are balanced with bittersweet realisations, leaving a lasting impact on readers’ hearts and minds.

Well, things are not only shiny and we do have to acknowledge the seamy side. In the case of this bestselling and genuinely thought-provoking work of literature, there are a few things that might hinder all readers from enjoying this novel. Let’s begin with the pace of the novel. For some readers, the pacing might feel slow, particularly in the initial chapters where the rules of time travel and the café’s ambience are established. Also, the interconnected structure of the four stories might leave some readers yearning for a more cohesive narrative. Moreover, the book’s magical realism aspect might not resonate with everyone. Some readers may find it difficult to suspend their disbelief and fully immerse themselves in the time-travelling elements of the story. However, these things may bar only the readers who have intuned themselves to reading contemporary fiction that moves very fast. Readers who are open to reading different kinds of fiction will rejoice in reading this masterpiece.

In conclusion , Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a tender and enchanting novel that skillfully explores the complexities of human existence through the lens of time travel. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s evocative writing, well-developed characters, and thoughtful exploration of universal themes make this book a compelling and unforgettable read. Despite some minor pacing issues and a potentially divisive magical realism element, the novel’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses, making it a worthwhile addition to any bookshelf.

Click here to buy the novel from Amazon India

Review by Ashish for ThoughtfulCritic

• Thoughtful Critic Rating

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Kawaguchi opens up a magical portal that aids the escape of readers interested in serious works of literary fiction in this commercially charged world of literature. At the same time, the novel might not offer something to everyone. Contemporary readers will certainly struggle to keep pace with the novel. Those who are patient and understand how literature functions may rejoice…

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Word of Mouth

Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, before the coffee gets cold.

Hidden in a back alley of Tokyo sits a café rumored to give its customers a chance to travel back to the past. Adapted from an award-winning play, BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD is a heartwarming and quirky book from playwright Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

The story follows four time travelers as they embark on their journey to a different time. They all want to see someone special --- a lover, a husband, a sister, a daughter --- and travel for different reasons, with love being the common thread that drives them. However, time travel in this café has its limitations. There are an assortment of rules, including one stating that the time traveler cannot change the past or leave their seat during the duration of their trip. They will receive a cup of coffee and must return to the present before it gets cold.

"I appreciated how short and sweet both the novel and the time-travel trips were. BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD is perfect for anyone who wants to feel connected right now."

At the very beginning, Kawaguchi throws all of these personalities at the reader in rapid succession, and it was difficult for me to keep track of who was who. Also, the names are very similar, which made it challenging to identify the characters until much later on in the story. However, I recognize that the book was adapted from a play, where it is easier to differentiate the players (thanks to the visual cues).

The novel takes place in the same café over a continuous time period, so you really get to know the regulars and the staff. They have their own troubles and joys, and each relationship is unique and heartfelt. In the absence of a magical café in real life, Kawaguchi encourages readers to value the time they have with their loved ones.

Although a bit slow at times, the story is gold and brought me to tears multiple times. What would you do if you could go back in time for just a couple of minutes? I appreciated how short and sweet both the novel and the time-travel trips were. BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD is perfect for anyone who wants to feel connected right now.

Reviewed by Alison Lee on November 20, 2020

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

• Publication Date: November 17, 2020
• Genres: Fiction , Magical Realism
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Hanover Square Press
• ISBN-10: 1335430997
• ISBN-13: 9781335430991

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Samantha Kilford

Tech PR & Bookworm

Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

July 19, 2022 · In: Book Review , Books

What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold , we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold…

“SHE REACHED FOR HER COFFEE, FROM WHICH ALL HEAT NOW HAD GONE. WITH THE SWEETEST PART OF THE EXPERIENCE LOST, HER MOOD PLUMMETED FURTHER.”

Listen – if you don’t cry at this, you’re a heartless monster.

A quirky, charming and heartbreaking story about a little coffee shop in Tokyo with a special seat that can send people through time. Before the Coffee Gets Cold combines the intense focus of a short story collection with the rich characterisation of a traditional novel. Each chapter spotlights a different customer in the shop and their desire to time travel, but as those same customers make appearances throughout all chapters, the novel feels more grounded and there’s beautiful sense of unity among the patrons as they support each other through their loves, losses and journeys through time.

It’s not so heavy on the science fiction side of time travel. Instead, it’s a clever and insightful look at human weakness, loss and the desire for meaningful relationships. There’s a few barriers to Kawaguchi’s time travel. One being that those who choose to travel in time cannot change history or impact the present regardless of whether they choose to act differently or not. In addition to this, the time travellers can only meet someone who has also visited the café themselves. The rules are both fun and agonising, especially due to the emotional anguish it causes the characters once you learn their reasons for journeying to the past and future.

Each story is rooted in difficult circumstances, packed with misfortune and sadness. Every character that sits in the seat is emotionally broken, desperate, and their decision to turn to time travel is clouded with a sense of missed opportunities and what ifs. There’s nobody who hasn’t wished for do-over in life, and while that’s not what Kawaguchi’s café offers, it provides something far more important. Closure. What follows are four poignantly beautiful brief encounters where the café customers confront and redress their losses, grief, hurt and mistakes, even despite knowing they will not be able to change anything once the coffee goes cold and they return to the present.

Whether it’s the final moments of break-up, revisiting the precious time before dementia takes hold of a loved one or saying goodbye to a family member who was taken far too soon, Kawaguchi captures the heartbreak of being human.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is both sweet and sad. Yet, it’s hopeful – just like real life! Time travel isn’t a magic wand that vanishes all problems, but it was touching to see how it was utilised in the novel to give people a second moment to say ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘goodbye’. It’s a gentle story that haunts you long after your tears have dried.

Sit back, relax, and grab a cup of coffee! I can guarantee you’ll have sped through this one before the coffee gets cold! (See what I did there! 😜)

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Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

By: Author Willow Heath

Posted on Last updated: 15th January 2024

Translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot

In a Tokyo café which has stood since the Edo period, there is a chair at the furthest point from the door. Local legend says this chair can transport you back through time as long as you follow a specific list of rules. The legend is true, as Fumiko soon discovers when her boyfriend abruptly leaves her for a job in the US and she’s willing to do anything to go back and stop him.

As Before the Coffee Gets Cold begins, it seems to be nothing more than a twee, even slightly awkward tale that might make for a passable plot to a TV drama. But as the layers are peeled back, the book reveals a far more earnest beating heart. It may even move you to tears. You can now also read the sequel novel Tales from the Cafe !

Offer: Try this book for free with a trial of Audible .

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Before the Coffee Gets Cold opens with Fumiko meeting with her boyfriend for what he calls a ‘serious conversation’. She hopes for a proposal, but he hits her with a break-up.

So far, so predictable. Goro moves to the US and a week goes by for the pining, mourning Fumiko, who continues to visit the café. Soon enough she recalls the local urban myth surrounding the time-travelling chair, and desperately asks the café’s staff if there’s any truth to it.

They yield and admit that there is, that you can travel back in time to a chosen moment in the café’s past. But that you cannot leave the chair, whatever you say or do will not alter the present, and that there is a time limit: the journey through time begins when the coffee is poured, and you must finish it before the coffee gets cold.

If you don’t, you take the place of the woman who is almost always sat in that chair; a woman who turns out to be a ghost. She leaves the chair to visit the toilet once a day, and that’s when you can sit and travel back. Try to move her by force and she will curse you, as Fumiko finds out. This woman was the last person who let the coffee go cold, and now remains there always as a ghost.

Read More: Japanese Literature in 12 Genres: Where to Get Started

As I read through these opening scenes, I found myself both cringing at how contrived the ghost and time travel plot seemed to be, but also thoroughly enjoying the ride for how unabashedly it all played out — and what a delightful tone that set for the novel.

It’s twee, it’s absurd, it’s clumsy, but it’s fun. And what occurs from there on is an unexpected opening up of the book. Fumiko’s story is only one of four. You could call each one a chapter, an act, or even a short story that’s heavily interlinked with the other three. Either way, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is comprised of four stories.

What evolved my approach to the book – from a cautious enjoyment of a twee tale about lost love and time travel to fervent and aggressive enthusiasm for these stories – was the clever way in which the book subtly and slowly eases the background characters into the foreground.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold was originally written by Kawaguchi as a stage play before being adapted into a novel, and it shows: there’s a theatricality to it; and the setting and characters are reminiscent of those who exist on the stage.

The chapters play out as acts, and there’s a distinct rhythm to the action. Though it works well as a book, I can only imagine it flourishes on the stage.

“When they opened the heavy wooden door and entered, the café was refreshingly cool. The clangdong of the bell was also comforting. And even though it had three two-seater tables and a three-seater counter, the only customer there was a woman in a white dress seated furthest from the entrance.”

During Fumiko’s opening story, we are introduced to the supporting players who work at, or are regulars at, the café: Yaeko Hirai, Kazu Tokita (who sends Fumiko back in time), the ghost woman in the white dress, and Kazu’s cousin Kei Tokita.

Read More: 10 Must-Read Books Set in Tokyo

Their lives and stories are drip fed but they remain mostly blurred out in the background of Fumiko’s story. But when that’s done and the second chapter begins, these women are slowly eased into the foreground and the café begins to take on a life of its own.

We learn more about the building itself, the owner, the women who work there, and we begin to hope that more will be revealed about the woman in the white dress. The relationships within the café begin to resemble those of a shouju manga, as we come to learn that the girls have lives which they are escaping or futures they are working towards.

Hirai has a sister in Sendai who pleads with her to return home and take over the family inn. Kei is pregnant and excited about becoming a mother.

There’s a heartbeat to their lives, a rhythm that’s literally beat out by the constant jingling of the bell as the café’s door swings open and shut. And what links all of this together is the bond between them; something thoroughly believable and tangible, but under which lies a current of sadness and trepidation. Each of these women will eventually find a use for the chair farthest from the door.

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It’s a pleasant delight to watch as the story opens up so slowly and carefully, like a spring flower or a pop-up book.

The people whom you think exist as supporting characters later play leading roles, and this shift is like a revolving stage; it brings to mind the heavy realisation that we are all our own protagonists, and the barista at Starbucks is one of our supporting characters. But we, too, are simply one of hers.

And each of these women is given a complete and compelling background, personality, and goal. A reason to sit in the chair. In fact, by the book’s conclusion, Fumiko’s broken heart seems so pathetic and trivial compared to what women like Hirai and Kei go through.

Suffice to say that each chapter of the book cuts deeper and hits harder than the last, until the final of the four effortlessly brings tears to your eyes.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold surprised me more than any other book I’ve read in 2019. I was all too ready to write it off as a twee but fun reading experience about heartbreak and time travel. But Kawaguchi cleverly and effortlessly subverted all my expectations, and in doing so turned this into one of the most enjoyable, heart-rending, and gripping stories of the year.

It is unapologetically awkward and campy, but it is full of soul, presented through clever world building and unfolding of its characters and relationships. A truly memorable and captivating reading experience. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

For Fans of: If Cats Disappeared from the World

Working Within Limits in “Before the Coffee Gets Cold”

Regret and its effects are no strangers to books. Countless literary works, both fictional and not, explore our innate longing to return to the past, to experience a moment once again, and perhaps find some solace for our aching souls. Yet only time travel fiction allows its characters an opportunity to truly return to where its readers can’t.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold , the debut novel from playwright Toshikazu Kawaguchi, may explore similar ground to its predecessors in the genre, but it inventively limits the mechanics of its time travel to the confines of a small cafe, and is all the more resonant for it. At times, Kawaguchi’s hand is a bit too prominent, but despite the occasional clumsiness, the narrative is deeply moving.

You’ll find no shiny time travel machines – not even a DeLorean – in Before the Coffee Gets Cold . Instead, the novel takes place entirely inside a small basement cafe. Removed from the constraints of linear time, time travel narratives have a propensity to become unwieldy, but Kawaguchi’s greatest contribution to the genre, and perhaps his highest accomplishment in the novel, is the strictness of the rules he imposes on time travel. Kawaguchi limits the action to within the cafe and focuses on the staff and a small number of regular customers.

In addition to the rule about staying in the cafe, a few more narrow in the journey: nothing that happens in the past can change the present, it can only happen in one specific seat, you can only interact with people who have been in the cafe, and there’s a short time limit on each person’s journey. The cafe’s ability is no secret, and yet these strict rules discourage most who learn about it from attempting to travel time themselves. The novel is told over a series of small vignettes, each revolving around a specific trip one of the regulars or staff takes, and housed under a larger narrative that runs throughout, shifting as the cafe and its patrons are changed by their experiences.

This may sound like a very theatrical setup – single location, only a handful of characters – and it is. Kawaguchi’s more prolific medium should come as no surprise to readers of Before the Coffee Gets Cold , and his growing pains in adapting to the novel form is the great shortcoming of the book. Beyond the in-depth description of the cafe itself and of the customers and staff, the action of the book is written in a way deeply reminiscent of stage direction. Exposition seems to be a particular struggle for Kawaguchi, and he often resorts to authorial asides, in which he lays bare the weight of his situations and the depth of his characters.

And yet, this is only a minor blemish on the book. Kawaguchi’s characters are the real stars here, and their empathy for one another is powerful. The first story of four in the novel, about a woman who didn’t discourage her boyfriend from moving to America, is perhaps the weakest of the book, but only for the heights of what’s yet to come.

Long Live Sully in “Somebody’s Fool”

The next tale, about a man waiting to go back in time to give his wife a letter, is poignant in a way I found more moving than I’d expected. Although the characters are unable to alter the past, the implications they bring forward into the future are real, and the experiences the characters undergo carry real weight on the narrative, which is reflected as the stories progress. While not usually one to shy away from spoilers, I think the real enjoyment of the novel comes not from the way the narratives are told, but the individual narratives in themselves. They are at times a bit sappy, and don’t go in expecting many twists – but this doesn’t take away from the emotional weight behind these moments. If one story doesn’t quite land, one of the others surely will.

This isn’t to say the Kawaguchi has no tricks up his sleeve. In the final story, he defies the rules we’ve by now internalized as much as the characters have, and sends a mother into the future to meet her child. This willingness to play with the form shows how deeply Kawaguchi has explored his own conventions, and the nuance he is capable of bringing to the table. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is mostly conventional, and a little rough around the edges. But it’s also sweet, warm, and moving. Kawaguchi’s characters all have a role to play, and the way they interact with each other, between the staff and the patrons, creates an environment where the reader, too, can feel welcomed and optimistic. The past might be out of reach, even for those who can visit it, but the future is always at hand.

FICTION Before the Coffee Gets Cold By Toshikazu Kawaguchi Hanover Square Press Published on November 17th, 2020

Ian is a writer based out of Chicago, and one of the Daily Editors at The Chicago Review of Books. His work has appeared in The LA Review of Books, Input Magazine, The Kenyon Review, Chicago Reader, among others. He is working on a novel. Follow him on Twitter as @IanJBattaglia.

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Book Review: “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” — Would You Like Time Travel with That Latte?

By Robert Israel

To his credit, Kawaguchi is a canny enough craftsman to give the time-tripping cliché a healthy spin.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot. Hanover Square Press, 272 pages, $20.99.

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Kawaguchi, at the age of 49, is best known in Japan for his plays and collaborations with a theater troupe called Sonic Snail. This is his first novel, and understandably it draws on his dramatic skills. The magical coffee shop, with its shabby interior, serves as a stage through which his characters must pass into another dimension. The larger world enters only when we learn their backstories.

Of course, Kawaguchi is not the first writer to enable time tripping by way of some sort of phantasmagorical vehicle. Turn back the dial of the Wayback Machine to the year 1895 (you remember that contraption from the animated cartoon Rocky and Bulwinkle show, don’t you?). H.G. Wells first developed the theme in his novel/socialist polemic The Time Machine . Like the knockoff Rolexes I saw being hawked in Roppongi, Kawaguchi stands on the shoulders of numerous scribblers who have exploited Wells’s scenerio in stage plays, radio programs, comic books, and in popular films like Timecop , starring the “Muscles from Brussels” kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme. (Oh, and let’s not forget that successful film franchise the Back to the Future trilogy, starring Michael J. Fox.)

So how does Kawaguchi differ from the others? Does he get away with recycling a hackneyed literary (and cinematic) gimmick? To his credit, Kawaguchi is a canny enough craftsman to give the cliché a healthy spin. Early on, he acknowledges the legions of writers who have pilfered Wells’s original theme — and assures readers that his variation on a theme will be different.

That’s quite a sales pitch. Yet he pulls it off by cleverly weaving fantastic strands into what turns out to be an entertaining tale. He convinces us that there’s a rumor floating about Tokyo, attributed to sensational stories that have appeared in the tabloids, concerning the existence of a magical café. It’s an “urban legend,” he tells us. But no one seems to know exactly where it’s located. If you should stumble upon it, it will appear, at first blush, to be a normal place of business, like the numerous stalls I encountered in the Roppongi district. If you linger longer, you might notice the abnormalities (strange clientele that lurk for what seem to be hours, weird comings and goings, backroom whispering). But chances are you might also find these happenings commonplace. It turns out that you have to engage the gatekeeper, a waitress named Kazu Tokita. Make it past her scrutiny and you are invited to partake in the specialité de la maison , namely time travel — but there are rules you must follow. (I won’t spoil the plot by giving all the rules away except to say that when one agrees to time-travel via this café portal, one cannot expect to return to alter the present outcome of one’s life at all).

A scene from the 2018 film version of Before the Coffee Gets Cold .

Being a clever dramatist, Kawaguchi builds suspense from scene to scene, carefully selecting his narrative clues. He punctuates his story with sonic cues: his characters’ entrances and exits are marked via a  bell that rings when the door of the magical coffee shop is opened: “ Clang-dong .” And he draws on a a rich Japanese theater tradition (read: kabuki) by including supernatural spirits, ghoulish ghosts who are trapped between the physical and spirit worlds (and who, comically, get up from the table every now and again to use the bathroom).

Once you grant Kawaguchi the necessary suspension of disbelief, the story moves along fairly well. Though there are occasional potholes because of Geoffrey Trousselo’s awkward translation. For instance, when the author introduces the character Fumiko, she is described “like a model from a fashion magazine…a beautiful woman who would draw anyone’s gaze…who combined intelligence and beauty.” Groan. Lugubrious descriptive sentences like this – which in the original Japanese might emit more nuance or sophistication — are found peppered throughout the prose. (An alternative would be to reprint the original Japanese word or phrase and then refer the reader to a glossary at the end of the book.)

Unlike H.G. Wells, who used the futuristic context of The Time Machine to explore the horrific disparities between the haves and have-nots of Industrial England, Before the Coffee Gets Cold doesn’t examine social or cultural complexities. It provides scant political pizazz. Rather, the book is a deep dive into melodrama, revolving around characters who long to reconnect to others for a second chance, to make amends, to rekindle passion. We are all victims of that poignant yearning to rewrite history. But, as Ray Bradbury suggests in his classic short story “A Sound of Thunder,” even a tiny change — such as squashing a bug — might change the course of history for the worse. Kawaguchi shuts down that tragicomic possibility.

A footnote: Originally published in Japan in 2015, Before the Coffee Gets Cold was noticed by the movies: in 2018 Ayuko Tsukahara directed a film version . Who knows? Maybe the book, if successful over here, will inspire a Netflix series?

Robert Israel , an Arts Fuse contributor since 2013, can be reached at [email protected].

[…] Critique de livre: « Avant que le café ne refroidisse » – Aimeriez-vous voyager dans le t…  artsfuse.org Source link […]

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BOOK REVIEW: Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

If you had the opportunity to, would you return to the past even for a short moment? What would you change if you had the chance to do things differently? And now would you still do it if you knew nothing you do would change the present? Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is set in Funiculi Funicula, an underground coffee shop in Tokyo where visitors can choose to return to the past to relive a particular moment in their lives.  Visitors quickly discover though that time travel isn’t simple at all, and there are a few non-negotiable rules they need to follow in the process – three major rules to be exact. Whilst one may return to the past, nothing they do will change the present. During their time in the past, they aren’t allowed to move away from a particular seat no matter what.

And possibly the most important rule, they must return to the present by drinking the entire coffee before it turns cold, or they’ll be stuck there forever. Furthermore, a ghost woman who sits in the same chair all day, except to go the bathroom is a clear reminder of what happens to visitors who fail to abide by the rules.  The story is divided into four parts – The Lovers, Husband and Wife, The Sisters, Mother and Child – and each one follows four different women who choose to go back in despite knowing nothing they do will change the present they’re living through. With each woman having a different reason to redo the past, the novel is able to cover themes such as regret, love, loss, duty and, family, hope. Will their journeys to the past be worth it in the end?

“I was so absorbed in the things that I couldn’t change, I forgot the most important thing…” Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Before The Coffee Gets Cold Review

So since you’re here to know what I thought about the book, I won’t hold back.

I read Before The Coffee Gets Cold at a very busy time in my life, hence, it was my way of winding down after long busy days. I’m sure having a lot going on might have had a bit of an impact on how I felt about this book… 

For a relatively short book, it took me weeks to get through the pages, and whilst being busy might have something to do with it, a part of me could only take this novel in small doses. I discovered only after reading it that by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a play writer and suddenly all the gripes I had with the book started to make better sense.

I’m usually a fan of books that are written quite simply and straight to the point, but can a book be written in a tone that’s too simple? Whilst reading Before The Coffee Gets Cold, perhaps I discovered it was certainly possible. Maybe, it’s due to the fact that the book is a translation and I’m sure it probably reads a lot better in Japanese.

If I could choose, I would have made this book even shorter as the author spent a lot of time describing the same things over and over again rather than just moving along with the plot. Whilst the entire story is set up in one place the entire time, the coffee shop descriptions are over-emphasised throughout the book but without necessarily adding much more to the overall development of the novel.

Now, you may be wondering: “ What did you like about Before The Coffee Gets Cold then? ”. Well, I think I’m still trying to unpack that. The simplistic tone made the book relatively easy to read so whenever I did pick it up, although I was reading it in little blocks each time, it didn’t feel too like a chore. 

Each woman in the book had an intriguing reason to want to return to the past so I guess my curiosity kept me going. My favourite character was Kazu, the staff member who took charge of the time travel rituals. Although she didn’t say much, she left an impression on me and had my full attention. Not to pile on even more but in terms of the storyline, I struggled with accepting the way things turned out for the characters. With one giving up her entire freedom out of guilt or remorse and another choosing to have a child despite knowing full well it would kill her, these were tropes I just couldn’t get behind.

I know many have on the internet confessed to crying a lot whilst reading this novel, but I can’t say the same. I don’t think I managed to get myself fully immersed into the world within the walls of the coffee shop, so my emotions were never really that heightened. 

Would I recommend Before The Coffee Gets Cold ? Yes, but tentatively. I do see its appeal and I understand why so many love it.  For me, however, it was a mid-tier read. Not terrible enough to hate, but not remarkable enough to leave a long-lasting stain on my memory. I’d class it as an okay read, but I cannot promise you won’t want to travel to the past to get your time back!

Rachy’s Rating:

Your restless romantic roamer

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Literary in the City

Before the coffee gets cold: review.

Published by

RATING: 4.25/5

“At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn’t change.” Before the Coffee Gets Cold

We can thank Jack Edwards (YouTube’s resident bookworm) for making this review happen! In one of his videos, Jack raved about this book and I knew I had to get my hands on it. Cue up a quick trip to my local Barnes and Nobles and one sleepy afternoon spent on my couch, and Before the Coffee Gets Cold was finally scratched off my TBR.

Written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about a mystical café that offers customers a strange opportunity: if you dare to drink a special cup of coffee, you can travel back in time. In the novel, four patrons looking to confront their past choose to embark on this special journey. There’s one caveat, though – they must return before the coffee gets cold…

This book was quite different from what I normally read. I’m usually fond of the thrilling, suspenseful novels that brim with action and adventure. However, Before the Coffee Gets Cold has a much slower pace. Kawaguchi’s writing is more emotional and sentimental. If you’re a literary analysis lover, this novel is like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Every line just teems with hidden symbolism and meaning to unpack. 

I recommend reading this book if you’re ready for some introspection. I like this story because it reminds us that, in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we tend to lose sight of what really matters. Sometimes, you just need to stop and reconnect with yourself.  

After finishing Before the Coffee Gets Cold , I was thinking a lot about the past, the present, and the future. This book made me ask myself a lot of questions. How do I choose to live my life? How do I make the most of the present? How do I deal with the regrets of the past? What kind of life do I want to build moving forward? What kind of life do I want to look back upon? While this book is definitely a little bit existential-crisis inducing (I did kind of stare into space afterwards), there are still little pockets of hope interspersed throughout. 

There are more books in this series, such as Before We Say Goodbye and Before Your Memory Fades . While I haven’t read them yet, they are on my miles-long TBR. Hopefully, I’ll get to them soon! 

If you’ve read Before the Coffee Gets Cold , or even any of the other books in the series, let me know how you liked them. As always, I’m curious to hear about your thoughts! ❤

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Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

By Maisie Scott

Article Summary

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s 2013 novel is an exploration of time travel and the art of coffee making. Before the Coffee Gets Cold was translated from Japanese to English by Geoffrey Trousselo.

Kawaguchi’s novel disrupts the linear narrative of time as his characters launch themselves (albeit only momentarily) into the past and future. The time travellers are exclusively women who go back in time to speak to their lovers, family members, and husbands.

The rules of the time travel are clearly laid out in the book. Kazu oversees the magical activity, running through the travel guidelines before each customer begins their journey.

Here’s a brief summary of the travel rules: you can only meet people who have previously visited the cafe. The time travel can only take place if you’re sitting on one specific chair in the cafe. You must not move from your allocated seat.

‘No matter how hard one tried while back in the past, one cannot change the present’

There is also a strict time limit rule constructed around the coffee. All the travellers must finish the coffee before it gets cold and then return to the present. The most tragic part is ‘The second rule – no matter how hard one tried while back in the past, one cannot change the present ’.

Kawaguchi has justified the second rule by stating that ‘I wanted the story to be realistic’. The time travellers are unable to change the present which creates a harsh sense of reality despite the magic of their time travel.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold resists neat genre classification. The tags of fantasy, translated fiction, novel, play and realism all seem applicable. Kawaguchi’s novel was originally written as a play before it was adapted into novel form.

The short novel arguably occupies a space known as ‘magic realism’ as Kawaguchi adds fantastical elements to the familiar space of the coffee shop. Before the Coffee Gets Cold also speaks to the modern fascination with time travel writing as popularised by H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine .

The identity of the time travellers does not serve to strike a feminist tone. Before the Coffee Gets Cold can instead be read as an exploration of emotional labour as Fumiko and Kohtake go back in time to therapise their ex-boyfriend and husband respectively.

‘Tears streamed down her face.’

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is able to create pathos for the characters who yearn in earnest to change the past. Kohtake goes back in time to speak to her husband before the onset of his Alzheimer’s. The novel delves into Kohtake’s emotional journey during this meeting. During the ‘fleeting moment’ Kohtake shares with her husband ‘tears streamed down her face’.

Kawaguchi offers a surface level exploration of the emotional lives of his time travellers. However, the novel delves deeper into the ceremony of coffee making. The cafe has a rich history as it first opened its doors in the late 19th century. Nagare uses a variety of coffee brewing methods including the ‘siphon method’ and the ‘hand-drip style’.

The coffee-making process is described with considerable sensory detail. If Benjamin Obler updated his 2009 list of the ‘top ten fictional coffee scenes’ for the Guardian then Before the Coffee Gets Cold would easily make the cut.

Kawaguchi has recently released another novel titled Tales in the City. The novel was released on the 17th of September 2020, and it is a follow up to Before the Coffee Gets Cold . Check out Kawaguchi’s work if you fancy a break from the inescapable reality of the pandemic.

This review copy was provided by Blackwell’s Manchester. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is available to purchase online .

• Books In Translation
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• time-travel

Maisie Scott

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Swearing, rants, reviews, on every level, book review – before the coffee gets cold: tales from the café by toshikazu kawaguchi.

I was incredibly excited the moment that I found out that there was going to be a sequel to Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold . It was one of my favourite books of 2019. In fact it was number 2. Only beaten by the exquisite comedy of Richard Ayoade ‘s examination of the film View From the Top . The first book, adapted from Kawaguchi’s play of the same name, was such an unusual but engaging book. I had never read anything quite like it, so getting the chance to revisit his work was most welcome. It was released at an great moment and really helped pull me out of my reading slump. After taking a week or so to finish The Thursday Murder Club , it only took me a couple of nights to get through this. Hopefully, this means I’m back to normal. Definitely a good thing because my non-review bookish posts ideas aren’t exactly inspiring.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold , Toshikazu Kawaguchi first introduced us to the Cafe Funiculi Funicula. We met the staff and the customers who frequented the little café that is hidden away in a Tokyo back alley. Within this café, customers can get a decent cup of coffee and get the chance to travel through time. The only catch? They have to follow a strict set of rules and they won’t be able to change the past. Provided they return to the present before their coffee gets cold, a person would get the chance to meet someone from their past or future provided that arrived at the café at right time. So, who would you visit if you had the chance?

In his first book, Kawaguchi told the story of four patrons of the cafe who decided to use its special powers. There was the woman who went back to confront the man who abandoned her, the wife who went to see her husband before he lost his memory, the woman who wanted to speak to her sister one last time, and the mother who wanted a chance to meet the daughter she would never know. These stories explored human nature, love and desire.

The follow-up is much the same and treats us to four new stories of time travel. We meet the man who wanted to revisit his best friend 22 years after his death, the son who missed his mother’s funeral, the man who wanted to see the girl he was unable to marry and the detective who wanted to give his wife a birthday present. We also see how much life has changed for the employees of the café. We learn more about the people we met the first time around and get even more insight into how the magic works.

About seven years have passed since the first book but the ritual remains the same. Once every day, the ghostly figure that haunts the café gets up from her chair. Once it is free, anyone is welcome to sit in it and travel to a time of their choice. In order to meet the person they desire, they have to be sure that they will be at the café. This is fine if you’re going to the past but creates problems if you want to go forwards. Once they have travelled through time, the customer cannot leave their seat, they cannot change the past, and they must return before their coffee gets cold. If they don’t drink their coffee in time, they will be doomed to take the place of the ghostly figure.

Anyone who has read the first book will be all too familiar with the rules but, for obvious reasons, the sequel has to reintroduce everything. Although, Kawaguchi doesn’t spend too long doing this. The rules are mentioned at the start of each story but that is all part of the rhythm of the ritual. It was the same in the last book and adds to the tone. In my opinion, it ends up being quite relaxing and the familiarity gets you prepared for what’s to come. You feel as though you are part of something ancient and magical. All of the details must be correct and every step must be carried out. Kawaguchi manages to discuss the rules every time without making it seem repetitive.

I enjoyed the writing of the first and enjoyed how much it felt like a play. I think the second book has a slightly more natural feel but still has that slightly intimate feel to it. The book still feels very Japanese and a little stoic. Yet there is plenty of sentimentality within these pages. This isn’t a book about time travel but four stories about people. It discusses relationships, love, regret, and life. The four people all want to sit in the chair so they can find the happiness they have lost. Even though they know that nothing will change, they hope that one final meeting with someone they love will give them the closure that they need. It’s a beautiful book and I just want more.

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Before The Coffee Gets Cold

Toshikazu kawaguchi.

“Are you listening?’ Kazu continued. “When you return to the past, you must drink the entire cup before the coffee goes cold.”

What would you do if you could travel back in time? Kawaguchi’s collection of stories gently asks readers just that. Using the possibilities of time travel as an enigmatic starting point, Before The Coffee Gets Cold ventures both backwards and forwards in a series of enchanting, sentimental narratives, leaving readers sitting — perhaps coffee in hand themselves — enthralled. 

When reading Kawaguchi’s work, one cannot help but be enticed by its familiarity and comfort into the world of the coffee shop itself. While some have criticised the novel for being ‘actionless’ and ‘slow’, for others the rhythmic pace of the stories, dictated by the drip drip of the carafe is a tonic and a delight.

“I found comfort in it. It’s one of those books to read late at night curled up in bed or with rain pattering on the window panes. “

- Rebecca Holland

Though running the risk of seeming insular and removed from reality, all of the stories in this collection — The Lovers , Husband and Wife , The Sisters , and Mother and Child — are set in the same location: a late-night basement coffee shop. Here, the same diligent staff make not only coffee for their customers but difficult, meaningful ventures through time.  

Each story offers readers insight into a new dynamic; sometimes romantic, other times familial — allowing readers to insert themselves into a world where time travel — and the possibility of a different outcome — are themselves a possibility.

Kawaguchi’s work has been applauded by recent audiences since its publication in 2015, before which it was a play that won the 110th Suginami Drama Festival Grand Prize.

“The chapters play out as acts, and there’s a distinct rhythm to the action. Though it works well as a book, I can only imagine it flourishes on the stage.”

- Will Heath

However, as much as Kawaguchi’s narratives toy with the prospects of time travel, they also ponder its frustrations in a ‘catch-22’ style that leaves readers with a newfound sense of injustice at inevitable phenomena such as grief, death, illness, and heartbreak. 

The question is raised repeatedly: ‘What would you do if you could return to the past?’ However, equally, a stoic understanding of the futility of trying to change what has been is also instilled into readers, which, by the end of the novel, provokes a kind of universal acceptance — of what we’re yet to find out.

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Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, 1) Hardcover – November 17, 2020

• Tales from the Cafe
• Before Your Memory Fades
• Before We Say Goodbye
• And the upcoming BEFORE WE FORGET KINDESS
• Book 1 of 5 Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series
• Print length 272 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Hanover Square Press
• Publication date November 17, 2020
• Dimensions 5.5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• ISBN-10 1335430997
• ISBN-13 978-1335430991
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hanover Square Press; Original edition (November 17, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1335430997
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1335430991
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• #24 in Magical Realism
• #143 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy (Books)
• #277 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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Toshikazu kawaguchi.

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Customers say

Customers find the theme interesting and universal. They also appreciate the writing style as unique, genuine, and sublime. Readers describe the story as tragic, gentle, and heartbreaking. They say the prose wraps their head around the story and transports them to café Funiculi Funicula. They love the idea of time travel and the characters' stories are touching. However, some find the plot repetitive and simple. Opinions are mixed on the reading pace, with some finding it nice but slow, while others say it tends to slow down.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the prose wraps their head around the story, and find it sweet, emotional, and translated well. They also say the stories flow seamlessly and keep them interested until the very last page. Readers also say it's not an overly complex book, and they appreciate the series of sad, funny, and touching tales.

"...Btw, I also enjoyed the reading experience elevated by audible narration . The soothing narration is good." Read more

"...The writing style is simple , clear, and direct, allowing the emotions of the characters and the moral implications of their journeys to shine through..." Read more

"...To me they are a little too long, however, wonderfully detailed ." Read more

"...Make it passed the rules of time travel and the stories are very heart warming ." Read more

Customers find the story well written and smooth. They also appreciate the stories within a story and the ending. Readers mention the book makes them happy and sad.

"...Despite minor flaws, the book's emotional resonance, intriguing premise , and memorable characters make it a worthwhile read...." Read more

"Light read. Super sweet story . Great characters. A wonderful time travel fantasy highlighting the perplexity of life & what might have been." Read more

"...MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST CHAPTER! Each story is better than the last . Make it passed the rules of time travel and the stories are very heart warming." Read more

"Really sweet read, I loved how it portrayed deep ideas in a simple storyline " Read more

Customers find the concept interesting, powerful, and magical. They also say the book is incredibly magical and moving, with lessons to be learned. Readers also describe the theme as unique, grounded in reality, and universal.

"...in the time traveling experience in this book is unique and more grounded to reality ...." Read more

"...Furthermore, while the book's concept is intriguing , the strict rules of time travel somewhat limit the exploration of its potential...." Read more

"...Simple sentence structure, easy to read. Flow is smooth. Message universal ." Read more

"...Overall the concept of the book was nice . Cute sentiment. But the over simplicity of the writing was not to my liking...." Read more

Customers find the writing style sublime and beautiful. They also say the story is gripping throughout.

"...These remind me to do good to others now. I like the style . Simple sentence structure, easy to read. Flow is smooth. Message universal." Read more

" Cute little book with a nice message . I’d really like to see it as a tv show!..." Read more

"...Overall the concept of the book was nice. Cute sentiment . But the over simplicity of the writing was not to my liking...." Read more

"...This was a beautiful , gentle book...." Read more

Customers find the stories of the main characters touching. They also say the book has emotional complexity that really gives its characters.

"...The writing style is simple, clear, and direct, allowing the emotions of the characters and the moral implications of their journeys to shine through..." Read more

"Light read. Super sweet story. Great characters . A wonderful time travel fantasy highlighting the perplexity of life & what might have been." Read more

"...pale in comparison with the third part of the book and its compelling emotional tale ...." Read more

"The stories of the main characters are very touching . These remind me to do good to others now.I like the style...." Read more

Customers find the idea of time travel interesting. They also appreciate the many rules that had to be followed.

"Light read. Super sweet story. Great characters. A wonderful time travel fantasy highlighting the perplexity of life & what might have been." Read more

"...And I loved this one as well.It was an adventure to travel back in time with these characters and know each one of their stories...." Read more

"It's a cool premise on time travel I'll give you that. It would make a great indie film...." Read more

"The story of the time travel inn is unique - the characters, both recurring and seemingly one-time visitors, quickly become people you care about...." Read more

Customers are mixed about the reading pace. Some mention it's a nice but slow read, while others say it goes by really fast.

"...a bit too plain, and at times, it might seem that the narrative lacks the depth or complexity that could have made the characters more fully realized..." Read more

" Light read . Super sweet story. Great characters. A wonderful time travel fantasy highlighting the perplexity of life & what might have been." Read more

"...the lengthy description of the rules of the experience.and less touching story lines , resulting in the reader not really made to care or be..." Read more

"The book started a little slow But it grabbed me and I'm going to start reading the rest of the series" Read more

Customers find the plot repetitive, boring, and surreal. They also say the storyline is lacking and struggles to engage with it. Overall, readers feel the book missed an opportunity to be more.

"The story was strangely written and included tangents that didn't seem to have anything with the main story...." Read more

"...the narrative is sweet, I can’t get over the simple word choice, repetition , lack of varied sentences, and plain dialogue...." Read more

"...However, I found the storyline to be lacking and struggled to engage with it, unable to progress beyond page 50...." Read more

"...But I couldn’t help but feel like there was so much repetition , like they were saying the same information over and over again...." Read more

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• BOOK REVIEW: Before...

BOOK REVIEW: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

A journey of time, reflection, and universal life lessons.

Photo by Marta Dzedyshko

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s enchanting novel, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold,” has captivated readers around the world. Originally written in Japanese and skillfully translated into English, this thought-provoking book takes us on a unique journey through time, exploring profound life lessons and offering universal takeaways. In this blog, we delve into the wisdom contained within the pages of this remarkable story, highlighting themes of regret, second chances, human connection, and the transformative power of empathy.

• Embracing the Power of Regret: “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” delves deeply into the theme of regret, reminding us of the weight that unresolved past choices can carry. Through the characters’ stories, the book emphasizes the importance of acknowledging regret and learning from it. Rather than being burdened by remorse, the novel prompts us to embrace regret as a catalyst for personal growth and self-reflection.
• The Value of Second Chances: The concept of time travel in the book offers characters the opportunity to revisit crucial moments in their lives and make different choices. This theme highlights the inherent human desire for second chances. “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” encourages readers to reflect on missed opportunities and consider the possibility of making different decisions in the present. It reminds us that we have the power to shape our future by learning from our past.
• Human Connection and Empathy: At the heart of the story lies a profound exploration of human connection and empathy. As the characters navigate their time-traveling adventures, they learn the importance of understanding and empathizing with one another. The book beautifully portrays the transformative power of genuine connection, reminding us of the profound impact we can have on each other’s lives through empathy and compassion.
• Appreciating Life’s Fleeting Moments: The café in the story serves as a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of time and the importance of savoring every moment. “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” urges readers to appreciate the beauty in life’s small moments, encouraging us to embrace the present and find joy in everyday experiences. It prompts us to slow down, take a breath, and cherish the moments that may pass by all too quickly.
• Cultural and Universal Relevance: Despite being originally written in Japanese, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” transcends cultural boundaries, resonating with readers from various backgrounds. Its universal themes of regret, second chances, human connection, and the passage of time make it relatable to people all around the world. The book serves as a reminder that our shared experiences as human beings can bridge cultural divides and connect us on a deeper level.

Conclusion: “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” is a timeless tale that transcends language barriers, captivating readers with its exploration of regret, second chances, human connection, and the fleeting nature of time. It reminds us to reflect on our past, appreciate the present, and consider the impact we have on each other’s lives. This remarkable book invites readers on a journey of self-discovery and empathy, inspiring us to embrace the power of our choices and the transformative potential of the connections we forge. So, grab a cup of coffee, immerse yourself in this extraordinary story, and allow its universal wisdom to touch your heart and soul.

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Erica (The Prepping Wife) August 25, 2023

Before the Coffee Gets Cold has been added to my TBR list because it sounds amazing. I’m looking forward to reading it. I’m excited about this one.

Lyosha Varezhkina August 25, 2023

looks like a lovely read! I would definitely enjoy my time over this book. Adding to my list.

Jay Tyler June 30, 2024

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A life in books and tea, book review: before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi.

I generally avoid very hyped books because I’m afraid that my expectations won’t match my reading experience, but I saw so many lovely reviews about this book AND it’s Japanese literature which I love so I figured I would give it a go. Unfortunately, I really do think it’s overhyped.

Before the Coffee Get’s Cold is a collection of four stories revolving around the staff and regulars of a magical coffee shop. If you sit in a certain seat, you can have the ability to travel back to the past or to the future. The only catch is that you must finish your coffee before it gets cold.

The four travellers in this collection are:

• Fumiko: who wants to go back in time to talk to her boyfriend before they break up
• Fusagi: who wants to go back in time and pass a letter to his wife
• Hirai: who wants to go back in time to talk to her sister before she passes away
• Kei: who wants to go to the future to meet the daughter she’s currently pregnant with

I guess one thing about this collection is that I’m already used to the style of stringing together various stories, a style that also occurs in books like There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job and What You’re Looking For Is In The Library (even Newcomer might fit the bill because those it’s about a murder, each POV character is telling their own story). Perhaps because of that, the book didn’t seem very original, it seemed like a perfectly fine piece of Japanese work.

In terms of emotional impact, I thought that Fusagi and Kei’s stories were the most moving. I also felt like the book got better as it went along because the stories started to be a bit more interconnected – Fumiko’s story was perhaps the most standalone and that may have resulted in a bit of disconnect between me and the book till about halfway in. It also took me a while to get used to the somewhat large cast of characters – there are quite a few staff members and I didn’t actually realise I needed to remember them all until they started being a lot more involved in the story than I expected (I expected most travellers to be customers like Fumiko).

Overall, this was a sweet collection of tales about time travel that ultimately did not blow me away. I wonder if my opinion would have changed if this was one of the first modern Japanese translated books I read, rather than coming in after I’m already used to this genre of heartwarming and somewhat connected but also standalone stories.

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4 thoughts on “ Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi ”

I have this one and I hope to read this series before year end.

I hope you enjoy it!

It’s such a pity you didn’t love this one as much as I did! I read it as a NetGalley arc so I somehow managed to get in there before the hype and this really is just perfect for me. But I’m glad you at least got some enjoyment out of it!

Yes, I think if I read it earlier I would have enjoyed it a lot more! But it was still pretty cute!

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•   A guide to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series

A guide to the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series

With four books from the internationally bestselling series before the coffee gets cold on the shelves, and a fifth due this year, here’s everything you need to know about toshikazu kawaguchi’s time travelling books, from the order to read them in, to what the latest instalment is about. .

Selling over one million copies worldwide, Before the Coffee Gets Cold was originally an award-winning play written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, adapted into a series of best-selling, internationally translated novels. Time travel is at the heart of this series, set in a peculiar bijou back-street Tokyo cafe, where a cup of coffee offers more than just a caffeine buzz, and the opportunity to go back in time is open to anyone who can follow the strange set of rules. After the first book’s huge success, he went on to write more in the series, with the latest, Before We Say Goodbye , released in September 2023 and the next, Before We Forget Kindness , out in September 2024.

What are the Before the Coffee Gets Cold books about?

The idea behind the story is a beautifully simple premise; a gateway to time travel in an unassuming cafe. But there are as many curious and magical details to the time travel itself as there are characters to meet. The customers of cafe Funiculi Funicula may travel back in time, to any time they like, for any reason they may have. However, they must return before their cup of coffee is cold. And there are a few more caveats to keep in mind too; you can only time travel when sitting in a particular seat within the cafe, and you must not move from that seat when you do travel to the past. Oh, and whatever is said and done when you do go back, will never change the future.

Should you read the books in order?

Although we meet many new characters and hear their unique stories in each book, we get to know the cafe owners and their friends and family over the course of the series, with their own secrets and mysteries uncovered along the way. The premise and rules of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-travel are set out in the first book, and these rules play a huge role in why the characters time-travel and what happens when they do. Therefore, while the books can be read as standalone novels, they are best enjoyed in sequence. If you don’t know where to start, the books are listed below. 

What is the next book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series?

Before we forget kindness, by toshikazu kawaguchi.

The next book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series is out on the 19 September 2024 and available to pre-order now. This time, the cafe welcomes four new guests: a father who could not allow his daughter to get married, a woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one, a boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents and a wife holding a child with no name. With the new cover now revealed, this instalment provides all the feels of the previous books. 

What is the latest book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series?

Before we say goodbye.

This is the fourth and latest book with Toshikazu Kawaguchi inviting us back once more to Cafe Funiculi Funicula to meet four new visitors with four intriguing time-travelling stories, including a man who lived without regret until his wife was brain damaged, realising he regretted never telling her how she made him feel, and a woman who couldn’t answer a proposal. What will they do with their time? Where will they time-travel to? And can they finish what they set out to do in the time it takes for their coffee to get cold?

The Before the Coffee Gets Cold books in order:

Before the coffee gets cold.

In an unassuming cafe, there is an urban legend which the strong-willed yet heartbroken Fumiko wants to uncover. Just a week before, in the very same cafe, her boyfriend broke up with her. What if she could return to that moment and handle the conversation differently? She fervently and doggedly sets out to discover how to travel back, hounding Kazu who serves the coffee to share the many rules and idiosyncrasies that takes you back to the past. Fumiko takes us on her own journey, and along the way we meet the other proprietors of the cafe, who share three more heartbreaking yet life-affirming journeys they take to relive the past.

Tales from the Cafe

We return to the cafe, this time feeling like a regular – getting to know the quirks and décor a little better, and more interestingly the people who spend their days there, including a surprising revelation about the ghost who inhabits that chair. But we meet new characters too, including a heart-wrenching story of love and gratitude of a man who goes back to thank and pay back his best friend who died two decades ago, and an old man who never gave his wife a gift. Regrets, wrong assumptions and missed opportunities hang heavy in the air in this mysterious old cafe, but in true Funiculi Funicula fashion, love and hope always unfold as the travellers return to the present.

Before Your Memory Fades

Leaving Tokyo behind, we take a trip with our old friends to the sister cafe of Funiculi Funicula, where, on the hillside of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, Cafe Donna Donna with its wistful views also offers customers the chance to quest through time. More of the recognisable cafe owners' stories are revealed, and we also meet wonderful new characters, including the mother and daughter, who in their own independent loneliness travel through time to save each other. Tears may flow, as our time travellers once again find new vantage points on old beliefs to uncover life-affirming discoveries.

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Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Genre: magical realism, literary fiction

Published: Picador Press, September 2019, (first published December 2015 in the original Japanese)

My Rating: 1/5 stars

“At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn't change.”

I can still sense the bitter aftertaste of disappointment this book left in my mouth. Even though this is my best friends favourite book of all time, it just wasn’t my lukewarm cup of coffee at all. I can keep the “lukewarm part” spoiler free, but in order to discuss what really ground my beans and had me ready for a dark-roast, I’m going to have to spoil some of the books events. Be aware: spoilers under the Ugly-section. Also: I will knock it off with the coffee-puns, don’t worry.

I really liked the take on time-travel this book had. In short, we follow the everyday happenings in a seemingly ordinary coffee-shop in a small back alley in Tokyo. Except when you sit at a specific table, under specific circumstances, this place offers you an opportunity to travel back in time, and revisit or repeat a conversation with a loved one you’d wish you’d handled differently. During your time-travel, you’re confined to your chair and can only stay for the duration that your coffee is still steaming, leaving you with a limited time to say your piece. Before the Coffee Gets Cold chronicles 4 stories, of 4 separate visitors, each on their personal quest for closure.

Time travel can be such a complex maze of paradoxes and by setting these strict rules the author avoids many of these issues. In fact, I often thought of it more as “conversations with ghosts of the past”, rather than time travel. It makes for a great set-up, and one that I’m sure many of us have fantasized about before.

Things fall apart from the get-go, mostly because of the incredibly clunky writing. I first thought this was a poor translation, but I’ve since heard Japanese reviewers saying it’s actually very true to the original style. Kawaguchi originally wrote this story to be a (screen)play, only to later adapt it into novel form. Except little “adapting” was actually done. There’s so much narrative exposition, dry and lifeless dialogue and a complete lack of transitions or cohesion between the four stories. Characterisation was horrendous, with each character having a single character-trait/motivation, or none at all. As a result, the dialogues that form the centre of this book read like an exercise of “dry-reading a stage play” with the character-sheet missing.

The book overall is of course deeply sentimental and is guilty of the bookish-sin I hate most: being emotionally manipulative and written with the sole intent to make the reader cry. If you’re going to tuck my heartstring this blatantly, at least have the decency to wrap your attempts up in an acceptable plot.

All of the above made for a 2-star book, but what truly catapulted this one into 1-star territory was some of the underlying messaging that I really couldn’t get behind. There will be spoilers from this point on, so be warned.

This novel perpetuates and romanticises some incredibly traditionalist views in my opinion, especially in regards to the roles a woman should take within a relationship. These themes are present in all four stories, but I’ll highlight the most egregious examples.

In our first story, a woman relives a pivotal conversation with her (ex)boyfriend. Her take-away from this experience is the realisation that she would’ve been happier had she places her “less accomplished career” (she’s a medical tech and he’s a game developer, so I’m not sure why she’s hellbent on comparing the two) secondary to his happiness. Wife-is-for-the-house, man-for-the-money-trope. Already icky, but I can look past it this once.

In the second story, a woman has a conversation with her husband suffering from Alzheimers, in a time before he lost his memories of her. She comes away with the realisation that she’s utterly content having given up her entire life and career to become his full-time caretaker, because “it’s her natural place as a wife and she loves him so much”. NO, NO, NO, NO! Can we please not romanticise and oversimplify the incredibly complex dynamic of a care-taking relationship in this way?!

Worst offender is the final story, in which a girl travels back in time to speak to her mother who died giving birth to her(?! Makes no sense but don’t question it) to ask her some burning questions. We learn that mum knew from the get-go that she was ill and would likely die in childbirth, yet selfishly and stubbornly continued to ignore health-risks, become pregnant and continue with the pregnancy, in order to fulfil her purpose to become a mum. The novel than praises her as a selfless hero for it.

In my personal opinion: setting a child into the world to grow up an orphan, because you know for a fact you will not be there to take care of it is incredibly selfish. You’re only thinking of your own wishes of being a mum, without considering the implications for the child (growing up without a parent, the survivors-guilt this kid will face etc.). This trope also perpetuates the idea that a woman’s sole purpose and value in life is in producing off-spring, which I deeply reject.

Overall, this book started bad but left a scolding burn of anger the longer I sat with it. I know for a fact there’s an audience out there for this book (again Robin, I’m so sorry), but I personally cannot recommend it to anyone.

Find this book here on Goodreads.

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8 Quirky Books like BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD

Arvyn Cerézo

Arvyn Cerézo is an arts and culture writer/reporter with bylines in Book Riot , Publishers Weekly , South China Morning Post , PhilSTAR Life , the Asian Review of Books , and other publications. You can find them on arvyncerezo.com and @ArvynCerezo on Twitter.

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Magical realism is the inclusion of magic into seemingly realistic storylines, and these days, it’s more commonly associated with Latin American writers. In Japanese literature, authors such as Natsume Soseki, Haruki Murakami, and Toshikazu Kawaguchi are a few of the most popular authors of Japanese magical realism, but this particular variety isn’t really that big in the wider publishing world.

But it looks like that’s starting to change. Recently, Kawaguchi’s books in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series have become international bestsellers. The first installment follows the lives of characters who plunge into the past while sipping a warm cup of coffee in a coffee shop in Japan. They have to do that before their time runs out or before their cups of coffee go cold.

If you’re looking for books with a similar feel, vibe, or story to this beloved series, you’re in luck. I have books in here that have themes similar to Before The Coffee Gets Cold , narratives of going through the fabric of time to look at the past long gone. There are stories that incorporate a parallel dimension theme in which characters see glimpses of their other lives and its possible outcomes. Some of the books in here are set in coffee shops, which gives a strong vibe to the story. Some do the opposite by leaning into the future, but they still evoke the same sensations. Whatever the flavor, these books are ideal to pick up after an adrenaline rush from this magical series.

Here are eight cozy and quirky books like Before The Coffee Gets Cold .

The DallerGut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee

The story follows Penny, who applies for a job as a vendor at a quaint store. In the book, the store sells dreams in glass bottles that serve as a panacea for its customers’ ills. DallerGut, Penny’s boss, teaches her how to sell these dreams as a real estate agent would.

The story, however, doesn’t entirely revolve around her. It also features characters who seek out specific dreams, such as seeing into the future, being able to fly, having a baby, and sparking an inspiration. The story’s central theme is these people’s problems and how the store can help ease them through dreams.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

Set in Kyoto, the story follows Koishi and her father, who own a restaurant. They attract many customers to their restaurant not only because the food’s delicious, but also because it’s magical, literally and figuratively.

Koishi and her father, both “food detectives” who delve into their customers’ lives like they were FBI agents, can prepare dishes for them that evoke long-forgotten memories while also providing a glimpse into their future.

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts

The story is somewhat meta as it centers around books and librarians. Komachi understands what each patron of her Tokyo library needs to find on the shelves and can recommend the perfect book for them to read.

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library chronicles the stories of various people who are looking for answers to their life’s problems, and Komachi is more than happy to help them with her accurate book recommendations.

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski [October 2024]

The book revolves around three witch sisters Anne, Violet, and Beatrix, who run a cozy tea shop in Chicago. While their customers sip their warm cups of tea, the sisters provide readings that show a glimpse into the future.

However, the sisters’ lives take a turn for the worse when the Council of Witches in Chicago assigns them a difficult assignment, and failure to accomplish it in time will result in the closure of their business. This is compounded by a discovery that they have been cursed.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

The story is based on a Japanese mythology about “ lucky cats ,” which are said to bring fortune to those who show them affection.

In the book, some characters are led to a strange coffee shop operated by talking cats. These people have done something good for the cats, but they appear to be lost in their lives. While sipping their cups of coffee in the bizarre coffee shop, the cats try to figure out what went wrong and help them recover.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The book follows Nora, who believes she has failed in life. Falling into depression, she desperately wants to change her situation.

She then stumbles upon the Midnight Library one day, an ether in which she’s presented with various versions of herself. It’s like parallel universes, with endless possibilities for how she could live different lives than she does now. Nora can now shape the course of her life according to her preferences, but it comes with a steep cost.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura, translated by Philip Gabriel

Seven students facing difficulties in life have stopped attending school. But then, they find a portal into a magical realm that takes them to a mysterious castle. This castle becomes their safe haven, their go-to place during supposed school hours.

There’s a catch, though. If they don’t leave the premises by 5 p.m., they will be in danger of being killed. They must also find a key within the castle, and the one who finds it gets a wish. But this also means that everything ends and disappears, including their recollection of the strange castle.

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard [August 2024]

The story begins at a lady’s house in the early 20th century, where the cat dies at its owner’s residence. Then it turns into a Ghost Cat whose name is Grimalkin.

The book chronicles the adventures of this magical cat through time and history, its adventures in Edinburgh as it roams to various places while observing the passage of time.

Despite the subgenre’s growing popularity, Japanese literature extends beyond Japanese magical realism. Want to explore more? Here are some Japanese authors that are rarely mentioned elsewhere and authors to read beyond Murakami .

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Chaos and Confusion: Tech Outage Causes Disruptions Worldwide

Airlines, hospitals and people’s computers were affected after CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, sent out a flawed software update.

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By Adam Satariano Paul Mozur Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel

• July 19, 2024

Airlines grounded flights. Operators of 911 lines could not respond to emergencies. Hospitals canceled surgeries. Retailers closed for the day. And the actions all traced back to a batch of bad computer code.

A flawed software update sent out by a little-known cybersecurity company caused chaos and disruption around the world on Friday. The company, CrowdStrike , based in Austin, Texas, makes software used by multinational corporations, government agencies and scores of other organizations to protect against hackers and online intruders.

But when CrowdStrike sent its update on Thursday to its customers that run Microsoft Windows software, computers began to crash.

The fallout, which was immediate and inescapable, highlighted the brittleness of global technology infrastructure. The world has become reliant on Microsoft and a handful of cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike. So when a single flawed piece of software is released over the internet, it can almost instantly damage countless companies and organizations that depend on the technology as part of everyday business.

“This is a very, very uncomfortable illustration of the fragility of the world’s core internet infrastructure,” said Ciaran Martin, the former chief executive of Britain’s National Cyber Security Center and a professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

A cyberattack did not cause the widespread outage, but the effects on Friday showed how devastating the damage can be when a main artery of the global technology system is disrupted. It raised broader questions about CrowdStrike’s testing processes and what repercussions such software firms should face when flaws in their code cause major disruptions.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

Ai r po r t

Bengalu r u K empeg o wda

Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

Stuttga r t

Melbou r ne

Be r lin B r anden b urg

London City

Amsterdam Schiphol

Chicago O'Hare

Raleigh−Durham

B r adl e y

Cha r lotte

Reagan National

Philadelphia

1:20 a.m. ET

CrowdStrike’s stock price so far this year

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