Before the Coffee Gets Cold : Kawaguchi Toshikazu

Before the Coffee Gets Cold — Hardcover

What would you say if you could go back in time—just once?

Down a quiet alleyway in the heart of Tokyo sits a century-old underground café where customers can do something extraordinary: travel back in time.

But there are rules. You must sit in one particular seat at a specific time of day. You cannot leave the café. You cannot change the present. And most importantly, you must return to the present before your coffee gets cold—or risk being trapped in the past forever.

Over the course of one summer, four visitors take their seats at Café Funiculi Funicula, each carrying a story they desperately want to revisit. A heartbroken lover seeks closure. A nurse receives a mysterious letter from her husband, who has Alzheimer’s. A café waitress longs for one final goodbye with her sister. And a mother returns to a moment that may be her only chance to meet her future child.

Tender, poignant, and quietly magical, Before the Coffee Gets Cold explores love, loss, regret, memory, and the preciousness of the present moment.

A beautiful choice for readers who enjoy Japanese fiction, magical realism, time-travel stories, and emotionally resonant novels.