Margins
コーヒーが冷めないうちに ( Before the Coffee Gets Cold) book cover 1
コーヒーが冷めないうちに ( Before the Coffee Gets Cold) book cover 2
コーヒーが冷めないうちに ( Before the Coffee Gets Cold) book cover 3
コーヒーが冷めないうちに ( Before the Coffee Gets Cold)
Series · 6 books · 2015-2024

Books in series

Before the Coffee Gets Cold book cover
#1

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

2015

What would you change if you could go back in time? In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café 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. In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, 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. 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 must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . . Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
Before the Coffee Gets Cold book cover
#2

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Tales from the Café

2017

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café 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 a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of 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 beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?
Before Your Memory Fades book cover
#3

Before Your Memory Fades

2018

The latest novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, following four new customers in a little Tokyo café where customers can travel back in time. In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café that 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 and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Café Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. Among some familiar faces from Kawaguchi's previous novels, readers will also be introduced to a daughter, a comedian, a sister, and a lover, each with something they wish they had said differently. With his signature heartwarming characters and immersive storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?
Before We Say Goodbye book cover
#4

Before We Say Goodbye

2021

The fourth novel in the internationally bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, following a new group of customers in a magical time-traveling Tokyo café. The regulars at Café Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with the whimsical ability it grants them to take a trip into the past—as well as the strict rules involved, including that each traveler must return to the present in the time it takes for their coffee to get cold. In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s previous novels, patrons have been reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family and visited loved ones. Now readers will once again be introduced to a new set of visitors. The Husband with Something Important Left to Say The Woman Who Couldn’t Bid Her Dog Farewell The Woman Who Couldn’t Answer a Proposal The Daughter Who Drove Her Father Away In Last Chance to Say Goodbye, which is translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot and features signature heartwarming characters and wistful storytelling, Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: What would you change if you could travel back in time?
Before We Forget Kindness book cover
#5

Before We Forget Kindness

2023

In the fifth book in the sensational Before the Coffee Gets Cold series translated from Japanese, the mysterious café where customers arrive hoping to travel back in time welcomes four new guests: \- The father who could not allow his daughter to get married \- A woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one \- A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents \- A wife holding a child with no name . . . They must follow the café's strict rules, however, and come back to the present before their coffee goes cold. Another moving and heartwarming tale from Toshikazu Kawaguchi, in Before We Forget Kindness our new visitors wish to go back into their past to move on their present, finding closure and comfort so they can embark on a beautiful future.
愛しさに気づかぬうちに [第6巻] book cover
#6

愛しさに気づかぬうちに [第6巻]

2024

とある町の とある喫茶店の とある座席には不思議な都市伝説があった その席に座るとその席に座っている間だけ 望んだ通りの「時間」に移動ができるという ただし、そこにはめんどくさい…… 非常にめんどくさいルールがあった 1.過去に戻っても、この喫茶店を訪れたことのない者には会うことができない 2.過去に戻ってどんな努力をしても現実は変わらない 3.その席には常に白いワンピースを着た女が座っている 4.その席に座れるのはその女が席を立った時だけ 5.過去に戻っても、席を立って移動はできない 制限時間はカップにコーヒーを注いでから、そのコーヒーが冷めるまでの間だけ めんどくさいルールはこれだけではない それにもかかわらず、今日も都市伝説の噂を聞いた客がこの喫茶店を訪れる 喫茶店の名前は、フニクリフニクラ この物語は、そんな不思議な喫茶店で起こった心温まる四つの奇跡。

Authors

Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Author · 8 books
Toshikazu Kawaguchi (in Japanese: 川口 俊 和) 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.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2026 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved
コーヒーが冷めないうちに ( Before the Coffee Gets Cold)