Before the Coffee Gets Cold
{{Short description|2015 Japanese novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Before the Coffee Gets Cold
| title_orig = コーヒーが冷めないうちに
| translator =
| image = File:Before_the_Coffee_Gets_Cold_book_cover.webp
| caption =
| author = Toshikazu Kawaguchi (川口 俊和)
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language = Japanese
| series =
| genre = novel
| publisher = Sunmark Publishing
| release_date = 6 December 2015
| media_type =
| pages = 348
| isbn = 978-4-7631-3507-0
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = Tales from the Cafe
}}
{{nihongo|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.{{cite web |title=Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold |url=https://mancunion.com/2020/11/12/review-before-the-coffee-gets-cold/ |access-date=2021-09-08 |website=The Mancunion}} It tells the story of a café in Tokyo that allows its customers to travel back in time, as long as they return before their coffee gets cold.{{cite web|url=https://www.thegryphon.co.uk/2019/11/15/treat-your-shelf-before-the-coffee-gets-cold-toshikazu-kawaguchi/|title=Treat Your Shelf: Before the Coffee gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi|website=The Gryphon|access-date=2021-09-08}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sunmark.co.jp/blog/wp/archives/810|title=『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|website=sunmark.co.jp|access-date=2021-09-08}}
The story originally began as a play in 2010, before being adapted into a novel in 2015.{{cite web |last=Lee |first=Alison |date=November 20, 2020 |title=Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi |url=https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/before-the-coffee-gets-cold |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202232816/https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/before-the-coffee-gets-cold |archive-date=December 2, 2023 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |website=Book Reporter}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://natalie.mu/stage/news/331123|author=Natasha, Inc.|title=「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|website=natalie.mu|access-date=2021-09-08}}{{cite web|url=https://hon-hikidashi.jp/enjoy/25454/|title=『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|website=hon-hikidashi.jp|access-date=2021-09-08|archive-date=2023-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311065321/https://hon-hikidashi.jp/enjoy/25454/|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-30 |title=What We Are Reading Today: Before the Coffee Gets Cold |url=https://arab.news/yery5 |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Arab News |language=en}}
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."{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2020/1119/A-chance-to-redo-the-past-in-Before-the-Coffee-Gets-Cold|title=‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ review: A chance to redo the past|website=CSMonitor.com|access-date=2021-09-08}} 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."{{cite web|url=https://chireviewofbooks.com/2020/11/19/before-the-coffee-gets-cold/|title=Working Within Limits in "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" – Chicago Review of Books|website=chireviewofbooks.com|access-date=2021-09-08}} 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."{{cite web|url=https://bookriot.com/books-like-pushing-daisies/|title=9 Books That Feel Like Pushing Daisies |website=Book Riot|access-date=2021-09-08}}
Joseph P. Kelly of The Harvard Crimson gave the book five stars.{{cite web|last=Kelly|first=Joseph P.|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/12/29/coffee-cold-review/|title="Before the coffee gets cold" Explores The Interiority of Time Travel|work=Harvard Crimson|date=2020-12-29|accessdate=2021-11-27}}
Sequels
In 2017, a sequel was released in Japan: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe.{{cite web |date=March 20, 2017 |title=この嘘がばれないうちに |trans-title=Tales from the Cafe (Before the Coffee Gets Cold) |url=https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3607-7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425202507/https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3607-7 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |website=sunmark.co.jp |language=ja}} A second sequel, Before Your Memory Fades, was published in 2018{{cite web |date=September 25, 2018 |title=思い出が消えないうちに |trans-title=Before Your Memory Fades (Before the Coffee Gets Cold) |url=https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3720-3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421163059/https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3720-3 |archive-date=April 21, 2023 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |website=sunmark.co.jp |language=ja}} and the third one, called Before We Say Goodbye, followed in 2021.{{cite web |date=September 20, 2021 |title=さよならも言えないうちに |trans-title=Before We Say Goodbye |url=https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3937-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705033220/https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=3937-5 |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |website=sunmark.co.jp |language=ja}} The fourth sequel was published in Japanese in 2023,{{cite web |date=March 20, 2023 |title=やさしさを忘れぬうちに |trans-title=Before You Forget To Be Kind |url=https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=4039-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315105817/https://www.sunmark.co.jp/detail.php?csid=4039-5 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |access-date=December 3, 2023 |website=sunmark.co.jp |language=ja}} 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.{{Cite news |date=June 1, 2018 |title=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 |language=ja |trans-title=The meaning of Masumi Arimura's tears... "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" Special Report completed. |url=https://eiga.com/news/20180601/8/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426150517/https://eiga.com/news/20180601/8/ |archive-date=April 26, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/09/26/films/film-reviews/cafe-funiculi-funicula-extra-spoonfuls-sentimentality-make-flick-hard-swallow/|author=James Hadfield|title='Cafe Funiculi Funicula': Extra spoonfuls of sentimentality make this flick hard to swallow|website=The Japan Times|access-date=2021-09-08}}
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.{{cite web|title=SK Global Acquires Toshikazu Kawaguchi's 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' For Series Development With Jackal Group|url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/sk-global-acquires-toshikazu-kawaguchis-before-the-coffee-gets-cold-series-development-jackal-group-1234862223/|work=Deadline Hollywood|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=October 26, 2021|access-date=October 26, 2021}}
References
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External links
- [https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/toshikazu-kawaguchi/before-the-coffee-gets-cold/9781529029581 Before the Coffee Gets Cold] - Pan Macmillan
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20230425202506/https://coffee-book.jp/ Before the Coffee Gets Cold official website] {{inlang|ja}}