Toshikazu Kawaguchi (in Japanese: ´¨¿Ú ¿¡ ºÍ) was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1971. He formerly produced, directed and wrote for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include COUPLE, Sunset Song, and Family Time. The novel Before the Coffee Gets Cold is adapted from a 1110 Productions play by Kawaguchi, which won the 10th Suginami Drama Festival grand prize.
¡°People tend to feel happy when spring arrives, especially after a cold winter. When spring begins, however, cannot be pinpointed to one particular moment. There is no one day that clearly marks when winter ends and spring begins. Spring hides inside winter. We notice it emerging with our eyes, our skin and other senses. We find it in new buds, a comfortable breeze and the warmth of the sun. It exists alongside winter.¡±
¡°³¦±ô²¹²Ô²µ-»å´Ç²Ô²µ¡±
Welcome back to Caf¨¦ Funiculi Funicula, where patrons can embark on a journey into the past and/or future as long as they follow a list of rules among which is that nothing done in the past would impact the present or the future and you must return to the present before your coffee gets cold!
¡°If it is not possible to change the present no matter how hard you try while in the past, then why bother?¡±
A question that defies rational thought but the answer of which lies in the hearts of those who are grieving for the people they have lost, regretting all that was left unsaid, those experiencing guilt over past actions or words that haunt them and prevent them from leading their lives to the fullest and those who want to see their loved one(s) just one more time.
¡°We can never truly see into the hearts of others. When people get lost in their own worries, they can be blind to the feelings of those most important to them.¡±
This time we meet four new time ¨Ctravelers. We have a man who visits a dear friend who was killed in a car crash 22 years ago and whose daughter he has raised as his own. Her impending wedding evokes guilt as he has never told her the truth about her parentage. We also meet a man, who was unable to attend his mother¡¯s funeral and travels back in time to see her once again. The son hasn¡¯t had an easy life and meeting his mother proves to be a cathartic experience, giving him a new lease on life. A terminally ill man travels to the future to see the woman he loved and to ensure that she leads a happy life and not allow his death to prevent her from finding happiness. The final time traveler is a policeman nearing retirement who meets his late wife on her birthday ¨C a day he missed on account of work- to give her a gift.
With simple prose, endearing characters (old and new) and stories that touch your heart, ¡°Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Caf¨¦¡± by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot) is an impressive sequel. Though I did enjoy reading the first book in the series, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, I must say that this book is an improvement over the first. Not only is the writing more fluid and less disjoint, but the characters are very well fleshed out and the stories are characterized by much more emotional depth and nuance. We get to know more about the caf¨¦ owner and his family and we finally get to know the story of the mysterious woman who occupies the time-travel chair in the caf¨¦, vacating it only once a day, opening up an opportunity for others to embark on their journeys. Yes, there is a certain amount of repetitiveness (with each of the patrons being reminded of the rules) but that can be easily forgiven on account of how beautifully written these interconnected stories are. This book made me smile and yes, I did shed more than a few tears. I¡¯m eagerly awaiting the third book in the series.
¡°Life too, passes through difficult winters. But after any winter, spring will follow.¡±
¡°I swore to myself that I would make sure that I was happy.¡±
Trigger warnings for suicidal tendencies, terminal illness, loss of a family member, miscarriage
I do not know what happened with the first book. I couldn¡¯t get into it even after trying again. I just had to give it up sixty percent into it every-time.
I do not know if it¡¯s the translation or something else. I want to love the book.
However, I am so glad I was able to read the second book the third time I tried reading it. I would say the writing is more accessible and well etched out than the first. I still feel I would have loved the book more if read in its original language. One issue as with the first book is that the author seems to think the readers have short term memory and tends to remind us time and again about the rules of the cafe.
I find the characters not as engaging and interesting even though their stories sound interesting enough. Maybe their stories do not do much for me personally.
Well I am glad I was able to read this book until the last page. It is short and entertaining to read for a supposedly sad book. I just wanted to get connected with the writing and the characters more than I got.
I was disappointed by this collection of short interconnected stories. 1.5 stars so it will be 2 stars.
Perhaps if I read the collection which preceded this, 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold', I would have appreciated or understood more about this book.
The upshot of the four stories is that 3 characters want to go back some time in the past, and one person wants to go to some time in the future. One is allowed to do such things if one sits in a certain chair in a 9-seat Japanese caf¨¦, when the woman who has sat in that chair leaves temporarily to use the toilet (yes, that is true). And if you do not finish the coffee that is placed in front of you by the time the women gets back or if you let the coffee get cold or if you try to leave the seat before she comes back there will be negative consequences. And you can¡¯t change anything in the past either¡although that was confusing because the time traveler would converse with a person in the past and that person would talk back to the time traveler (isn¡¯t that changing things¡for the person in the past?) ¡
On a page shortly before the first story is a schematic of 14 boxes corresponding to 14 names with brief vignettes underneath the box about who the character is¡and there are lines connecting some boxes to other boxes and phrases of ¡°came from the past¡± and ¡°returned to the past¡± and dots connecting different boxes, and solid lines connecting different boxes¡I guess that all of that is supposed to be an aid to the reader when she or he gets hopelessly confused¡like me. ?
The collection did not work for me. Within the four 40-60 page short stories were key facts embedded in the story that the author seemed to only reveal when the reader (me in this case) was already exasperated as to what the hell was going on¡and then finally the author reveals something critical to understanding the story and then there are characters from previous stories in the collection flitting in and out (and you haven¡¯t fully grasped who those characters were from the preceding stories), and there is a ghost in all of the stories¡and fer chrissake this is the second BadRead book I have encountered in the past 2 days. ?
Reviews: ? ? ? ? ?
Final word from me: It appears all these reviewers read the prequel before reading this and waxed poetically about that book, and found this book to be equally pleasing. So there ya go¡once again I am the outsider. Oh well, gotta go. I¡¯ve had enough coffee from this caf¨¦. ?
I was very happy to find out that there is a "sequel" to the first book and loved all of the stories in this continuation of "before the coffee gets cold" so so much! It definitely did not disappoint at all and we even find out more about the characters and the ghost... So beautifully written and just so heartwarming and yet sad at the same time... Its like a slice of life book that makes you learn and reflect a lot. Definitely give the first book a try and after that there is more to be read. Can't wait to see more books of Toshikazu Kawaguchi in the future. ?
This is Book 2, and I really enjoyed it. I liked catching up with some of the characters from Book 1, and meeting new ones too. The rules of time travel are the same, and the message is timely.
Enjoyable sequel. It was delightful to return to Cafe Funniculi Funnicula, where one can return to the past (or possibly go ahead to the future) for a short time, as long as you return before the coffee gets cold. This is a short novella, a series of vignettes that twine together as the various people come to the cafe in order to speak to someone from the past. A man wants to talk with his friend whose daughter he raised when the friend died young. Another man wants to give his wife the birthday gift he was never able to give her. A man who knows he is dying wants to travel to the future to speak to the girl he loves, and a son with regrets wants to talk to his mother again. There are rules that must be followed, and often the results of the visits are not what either party expects from the journeys.
As with the first book in the series, I partially listened to this as an audiobook and partially read it on the page. The audiobook helps me to get the pronunciations of the Japanese names, but the print helps me to see how the stories interconnect.
This is a conteplative tale, the repetition of the rules gets a little tedious, but overall those who sit at the table and travel through time receive what they desire from the encounters and more. They receive closure, confirmation of decisions, and most of all, forgiveness for perceived wrongs. It's always interesting to see that those who the travelers go to visit often have a completely different view of the events or situations than those they are visiting. It allows the reader to think back about regrets and realize that just because we might feel a certain way about something, it doesn't mean that the other person has the same view.
Overall I have enjoyed the two books in this series, hopefully if there is a third book the author can just say "the rules were explained" rather than listing them out one by one every single time.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
Tales from the Cafe is the second lot of short tales from Kawaguchi's 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' series, which follows people on a journey into the past (or future) within a magical cafe. There are, as usual, an astounding number of strict rules to follow, but perhaps the most important to remember is to drink the coffee before it gets cold.
This time we follow a man wanting to visit an old friend who died in a car crash 22 years ago, a detective wanting to give his wife the birthday gift he was never able to give, a son wanting to see his departed mother one last time and a dying man wanting to see the girl he could never marry. Connecting them all are the staff of the cafe, a small family unit in themselves.
Already being familiar with the cafe environment and staff, I felt more of a connection this time around and found the stories to be more cohesive. Although they're all contained within their own story arc, the staff offer a more complex and slow building tale that connections everything together. We also discover who the enigmatic lady in the white dress is too, which added a bit of closure to some of the mysteries left open in the previous installment.
I've slowly grown to really like the staff at the cafe, and the endearing and complicated reasons people want to travel to a different time. Whether it's redemption, self reflection, guilt or just a need for some closure, every story is simply yet beautifully told, with every patron having a unique story to tell. The series really does have the potential to go on and on, with countless people visiting the cafe.
At times the constant repetition of the rules got a bit irritating, but on the whole I enjoyed this a lot more than the last one.
It's not an overly exciting book with a lot going out. Quite literally just people having coffee getting the last goodbye. However the character study in this and the very complex and fleshed out characters made this a very intriguing and fascinating book to listen to. Was a perfect book to listen to when I my brain had an hissy fit
This book is just as beautiful and heart-wrenching as the first. I'm sobbing. It's so beautiful!
I was so incredibly excited when I heard that the other books in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi were going to be translated into English! I adored the first book and it was my absolute favourite read of 2019, I even thought about it replacing The Gift as my favourite book! That¡¯s how much I loved it! So of course when NetGalley had the arc available I requested it and was lucky enough to get it!
54373691. sy475 Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, Tales from the Caf¨¦ continues to follow the staff from Caf¨¦ Funiculi Funicula, some familiar faces, and some new to us. Yet again this book tells the tale of individuals who need to face their past in order to move on with their future, and leaves the reader, or at least me, asking what I would change if I could travel back in time.
This is quite a short book, so it¡¯s hard to say much about it when trying to avoid spoilers, but yet again this book just filled my soul. I adored the atmosphere Kawaguchi created around the caf¨¦, how he expanded on the lore of the caf¨¦ itself, as well as on the history of those who work there. On top of this beautiful exploration we are also introduced to new people and are absorbed into new tales. Throughout this book, whilst I was reading it I really felt a sense of peace, of beauty. I cried, as with the first one, when I finished reading it. It¡¯s such a touching and well written plot. And I love the path that Kawaguchi went down for this book.
I¡¯ve already bought myself a physical copy of this book (and it¡¯s signed!) and I¡¯m also already excited for the 3rd and final book to be published in English! I wish that this was a longer series, but if I can¡¯t have that then fingers crossed more of Kawaguchi¡¯s works will be translated into English. If not then you might find me learning Japanese!
Seasons flow in a cycle. Life too, passes through difficult winters. But after any winter, spring will follow I read the first installment of this series some days ago and I fell in love with the calmness of the author¡¯s writing.Japanese books usually give me the feeling of calm, relaxing and soothing emotion which hits hard but leaves a soft sadness.I was very afraid while picking up this book thinking that it wouldn¡¯t do justice to the first installment.But I am very pleased to inform you that I was mistaken.This book holds the same charm for me as it¡¯s first installment did. This book is divided into 4 stories named The Best Friend,Mother and Son,The Lovers and The Married Couple featuring Gohtaro ,Yukio, Kurata and Kiyoshi.Each story has it¡¯s own beauty and it will give you much contentment. The changes in the caf¨¦ are satisfying.While reading this book,you will feel that you are a part of the character¡¯s happiness and sorrow.Kazu¡¯s life is more elaborately depicted here too. In a nutshell,if you love Japanese soothing essence and want to read something which will give you a new perspective,try reading this book?
This is your typical time travel in a Japanese coffee shop novel , apparently it is the sequel to a similarly named earlier novel which I have never read and which I don't plan to read but then again I didn't plan to read this either, so I just can't tell.
On the one hand, you could say it is a pretty bad novel, the time travel is hemmed in with strict rules which I won't repeat here since they are so richly and frequently repeated in the book, the complex and involved back stories of characters are dumped on to the page in what is technically called an 'info dump' and there is a lot of repetition of the time travel rules, and it is probably best to repeat that a few more times in case you haven't got the idea yet. While the book comes with a chart showing the relationships between the characters - which is a bit of danger sign, it shows the publisher (and author) believing that you are never going to be able to figure it out, or keep it straight in your head from the cackhanded way that the author has constructed it.
On the other hand I was close to crying three times while reading which had nothing to do with reading the rules for time travel repeatedly so we could say it was a very good novel in succeeding to hit the sentimental, emotional, or just plain mawkish spot.
Life in Japan on the strength of this novel seems even stranger than I had imagined, even after learning about Godzilla, apparently if you are working for a friend in their small business and they die, you can just take over the business, and raise their child as your own and nobody will complain or cause you any problems, not the law, the banks, or even any grandparents.
But also in Japan it seems that being a ghost is pretty good - you can read books, drink coffee and you even need to go to the toilet - though admittedly only once a day - being dead in Japan seems a pretty minimal change of physical condition, this probably why Japan's population is ageing rapidly - too many people retiring to Japan in the hope of an active afterlife.
curiously this feels like an ancient book because the theme is reconciliation with your dead, that you can reconcile with your departed loved ones provided you and they observe the strict rules of time travel and go on to live your life in a new way. And that more or less the desire that religion has been busy trying to address for the past few thousand years with the help of their own strict rules - which admittedly don't involve coffee which does seem to be a major oversight.
This series increasingly feels like reading a play, where the translation from the original Japanese emphasizes vivid, stage direction-like details rather than introspective thoughts. Everything we learn about the characters comes through dialogue, creating a unique and theatrical storytelling experience. Tales from the Caf¨¦ builds beautifully on Before the Coffee Gets Cold, deepening our understanding of the time-traveling caf¨¦¡¯s rules while leaving just enough mystery to keep us eager for future installments.
While I found the emotional weight of these stories slightly less impactful compared to the first book, the author¡¯s talent for crafting a gradual, resonant build-up shines through. Each story unfolds with purpose, culminating in a powerful emotional payoff that makes the journey worthwhile.
Sweet and heartfelt, this collection of stories following this beloved time-traveling cafe reminded me of the importance of living in the moment, healing, and choosing happiness for yourself.
While it wasn¡¯t as engaging or as touching as the first collection, I appreciated the three out of the four stories, the first being one that I felt no particular connection to.
Tales from the Caf¨¦ by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is the sequel to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, following four new customers who hope to travel back in time in a little Tokyo cafe. In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a caf¨¦ 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 . . .
From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes Tales from the Cafe, a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. It is definitely a unique take on time travel that I found quite fascinating with rules that must be followed.
Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's previous novel, we will be introduced to:
The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago The son who was unable to attend his own mother's funeral The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry The old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . .
This was just a big flop - in my humble opinion. A dull repetition of the first book yet it even lacked a hook to keep me intrigued by the characters' stories. This series have an incredibly unique premise but I believe that the execution could've been so much better.
I loved the first installment of this time-travel series, so I dipped right into the second. What I love about this book (and series) is that while we get a brief look into the lives of the different "travelers" in each chapter, the author does a masterful job of growing the back stories and current situations of the caf¨¦ workers. The owners daughter (born at the end of the first book) is school age now. Miki likes to perform and be the center of attention. She brings some comic relief and often steals the scene. Characters/"travelers" from the first book make return appearances (which I loved) and we are introduced to new characters/"travelers".
Characters are diverse in age and background, but they all are suffering in some way or carrying a burden or mental weight. Though they can't change the past, they can change the way they understand it and find a way to live/move forward in a new direction with peace in their heart. There are major developments in Tales from the Caf¨¦. We learn more about the coffee pourers-former, current, and future. Loss is explored in all of the stories. One character states a wonderful view on the time we have with those we've lost and how to live our lives without them. One story/chapter focuses on a detective. His story was particularly moving. His research into past "travelers" and his observations/conclusions about the coffee pourers does a nice job wrapping up this installment.
Looking forward to book 3 and excited to see that book 4 will be released on 11/12/23.
¡ªI'm exaggerating, but it felt like every character's name began with 'K.' It got confusing ¡ªThis felt like a repeat of the first book. I think it would have benefited from a fresh element.