"Before The Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi || A Review

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a tender, contemplative novel that offers a unique take on time travel, though not in the way one might expect. Set in a quaint, tucked-away café called Funiculi Funicula, the story revolves around a strange and alluring promise: customers can travel back in time. However, the rules are strict — they can only return to a specific seat in the café, and they must return before their cup of coffee gets cold. These limitations create a delicate tension, making the novel more about emotional journeys than fantastical adventures.

I was immediately drawn to the novel’s quiet intimacy. Kawaguchi doesn’t concern himself with the typical consequences of time travel. Instead, the focus is on what people want from their past — closure, understanding, or simply the chance to say something left unsaid. As someone who enjoys stories that delve into the human condition, I found myself intrigued by the novel’s exploration of what it means to make peace with one’s regrets.

The book is divided into four interconnected stories, each centered on a different café customer who seeks to return to a pivotal moment in their life. What struck me was how relatable these characters felt, even though their situations varied widely. Whether it was a woman seeking one last conversation with a lover who left her, or a sister longing to apologize to her estranged sibling, each narrative carried an emotional weight that resonated deeply with me. 

Despite the simplicity of the café setting, Kawaguchi’s writing is rich with emotion, bringing out the unspoken desires and quiet regrets that most people carry. The café’s atmosphere itself felt almost magical in its stillness, a place outside of time where conversations from the past could momentarily bloom again. 

However, the novel’s structure, with its segmented stories, did come with its challenges. There were moments when I felt the pacing lagged, especially during the transitions between the stories. I wanted to linger more with certain characters and their dilemmas, but the shift to the next narrative sometimes felt sadly abrupt. That being said, the connections between the characters, and the way their lives intersected at the café, gave the book a sense of cohesion that kept me invested.

What stayed with me most, though, was the novel’s message about accepting the limits of time. While the café allows its customers to revisit the past, they cannot change it. This rule made the characters’ journeys all the more poignant. It isn’t about altering fate, but about finding closure, even if only in small, fleeting ways. I appreciated how Kawaguchi handled this theme with tenderness and restraint, allowing the characters to learn that the present is often the only place where true healing can happen.

In the end, Before the Coffee Gets Cold left me with a sense of cool, quiet reflection. It’s a novel that doesn’t promise easy resolutions, but rather asks us to sit with our memories, to savor them — before they slip away, like the warmth of a cup of coffee cooling in our hands.