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Before the Coffee Gets Cold

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2015 Japanese novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Before the Coffee Gets Cold
AuthorToshikazu Kawaguchi (川口 俊和)
Original titleコーヒーが冷めないうちに
LanguageJapanese
Genrenovel
PublisherSunmark Publishing
Publication date6 December 2015
Pages348
ISBN978-4-7631-3507-0
Followed byTales from the Cafe 

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (コーヒーが冷めないうちに, Kohi ga Samenai Uchi ni) is a 2015 novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (川口 俊和) [ja]. It tells of a café in Tokyo that allows its customers to travel back in time, as long as they return before their coffee gets cold.

The story originally began as a play in 2010, before being adapted into a novel in 2015. It was translated into English by Geoffrey Trousselot and published in Britain by Picador in September 2019.

Plot summary

In a narrow back alley in Tokyo lies a café called Funiculi Funicula. In the café, customers have the opportunity to travel to a time of their choosing, as long as they follow a long list of rules. There is only one seat in the café that allows time travel; the seat is only available when the ghost that usually occupies it goes for a toilet break; once back in time, customers can't leave the seat; the only people in the past who can be met are people who have visited the café; whatever happens in the past, the present won't change; and, most importantly, the customer has to return to the present before their cup of coffee goes cold (around an hour).

The novel follows the stories of the café staff, notably the barista Kazu, and four different customers. The first customer is a businesswoman named Fumiko who tries to repair her relationship with her boyfriend after he left the country for a job in the United States. The second customer, a nurse named Kohtake, tries to find a letter that her Alzheimer-stricken husband wrote. The third customer is a bar owner named Hirai, who tries to initiate a conversation with her sister whom she's been avoiding. The fourth customer is Kei, one of the café co-owners, who tries to go to the future to talk to her unborn daughter. Through the stories of its four characters, the author delivers a compelling message: the past cannot be altered, but the future remains open and full of possibilities.

Reception

Terry Hong of The Christian Science Monitor stated that the "narrative is occasionally uneven and tends to meander" but that the author "has a surprising, unerring ability to find lasting emotional resonance." Ian J. Battaglia of the Chicago Review of Books wrote that "despite the occasional clumsiness, the narrative is deeply moving" and that the "characters are the real stars here, and their empathy for one another is powerful." Courtney Rodgers of Book Riot compared the book to American comedy series Pushing Daisies, stating that the "charming short novel asks questions about time and how we choose to spend it."

Joseph P. Kelly of The Harvard Crimson gave the book five stars.

Sequels

In 2017, a sequel was released in Japan: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe. A second sequel, Before Your Memory Fades, was published in 2018 and the third one, called Before We Say Goodbye, followed in 2021. The fourth sequel was published in Japanese in 2023, and its English translation is slated for publication in September 2024 as Before We Forget Kindness.

Adaptations

In 2018, the novel was adapted into the film Cafe Funiculi Funicula, starring Kasumi Arimura.

In October 2021, it was announced that SK Global and The Jackal Group to develop, finance, and produce an adaptation of the novel as a television series.

References

  1. "Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold". The Mancunion. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  2. "Treat Your Shelf: Before the Coffee gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi". The Gryphon. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  3. "『コーヒーが冷めないうちに』本屋大賞にノミネート記念！営業と編集の奮闘記。 | 編集ブログ | サンマーク出版". sunmark.co.jp. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  4. Lee, Alison (November 20, 2020). "Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi". Book Reporter. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  5. Natasha, Inc. "「ラフカット」今年は宮藤官九郎・矢島弘一・川口俊和・堤泰之の短編4本 - ステージナタリー". natalie.mu. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  6. "『コーヒーが冷めないうちに』の続編『この嘘がばれないうちに』は、不器用で優しい「嘘」の物語 | ほんのひきだし". hon-hikidashi.jp. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  7. "What We Are Reading Today: Before the Coffee Gets Cold". Arab News. 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  8. "'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' review: A chance to redo the past". CSMonitor.com. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  9. "Working Within Limits in "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" – Chicago Review of Books". chireviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  10. "9 Books That Feel Like Pushing Daisies". Book Riot. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  11. Kelly, Joseph P. (2020-12-29). ""Before the coffee gets cold" Explores The Interiority of Time Travel". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  12. "この嘘がばれないうちに" [Tales from the Cafe (Before the Coffee Gets Cold)]. sunmark.co.jp (in Japanese). March 20, 2017. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  13. "思い出が消えないうちに" [Before Your Memory Fades (Before the Coffee Gets Cold)]. sunmark.co.jp (in Japanese). September 25, 2018. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  14. "さよならも言えないうちに" [Before We Say Goodbye]. sunmark.co.jp (in Japanese). September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  15. "やさしさを忘れぬうちに" [Before You Forget To Be Kind]. sunmark.co.jp (in Japanese). March 20, 2023. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  16. "有村架純の涙の意味は…「コーヒーが冷めないうちに」特報完成" [The meaning of Masumi Arimura's tears... "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" Special Report completed.] (in Japanese). June 1, 2018. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  17. James Hadfield. "'Cafe Funiculi Funicula': Extra spoonfuls of sentimentality make this flick hard to swallow". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  18. Andreeva, Nellie (October 26, 2021). "SK Global Acquires Toshikazu Kawaguchi's 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' For Series Development With Jackal Group". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 26, 2021.

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