Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, poignant novel set in TOKYO

9th December 2022

Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, poignant novel set in Tokyo. Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot

A magical mystery novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi set in a basement cafe named the Funiculi Funicula which of course is the title of a Neapolitan song to commemorate the opening of the first funicular railway on Mount Vesuvius. A coincidence? I think not. A cast of characters who pass in and out to the sonorous clank of the door ringer… clang-dong… reminiscent perhaps of a funicular motion, in and out, up and down.

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving meticulously brewed coffee for over one hundred years. The coffee-making process is described with considerable sensory detail. This coffee shop also offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors to the shop, 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.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold

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 have to return to the present before the coffee gets cold…

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 connected 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, 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 makes all problems disappear, but it was emotional to see how it was used 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. 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. It’s certainly great read.

Sit back, relax, and grab a cup of coffee! I can guarantee you’ll have sped through this one before the coffee gets cold!

Tony for the TripFiction Team

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