Step Mile Journeys

“No matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart.”

TOSHIKAZU KAWAGUCHI

Disclaimer: This post contains AI generated images

Picture a dimly lit café (in my head it has a little bit of a dark retro, somewhat European vibe) in the middle of Tokyo. It’s entrance is tucked in a little corner, that on a normal day, you’ll hardly even notice it’s there. But you hear stories (rumours, more like) about a special little service that it offers: the chance to go back in time. That is the premise of Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

In a Nutshell

Set in modern day Tokyo, inside a back alley café rumoured to offer its customers to travel back in time. The entire book revolves around 4 main characters plus minor characters surrounding them. 4 people equals 4 stories to tell. The protagonists (as we can call them), are each seeking to use the cafe’s unique service for their own reasons (to confront the man who left them, see their sister again, receive a letter from a husband suffering from Alzheimer or meet a possible future child). Like any other time travel stories out there, there are caveats when it comes to using the time-travel service (a set of rules that the time traveller must adhere to or else consequences). Some of these are:

• One has to sit at a particular seat, which is always occupied by a “woman”(I still think that this woman is some kind of ghost) except for brief moments it is available.
• One cannot leave that seat ( and the café at all)
• One has to return before the coffee get cold (the most important rule)

I’m pretty sure there’s two more rules, but I’m not gonna spoil it for you guys. You might wonder, how could they change the past if they have to leave before the coffee gets cold or if they can’t leave their seat at all? I guess you’re gonna have to read the book to find out.

Book finished

Each of the stories are moving and have somewhat of a bittersweet endings to each of them. While reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold, I couldn’t help but also think of another book I’ve recently read which shares the same essence. While the Midnight Library (by Matt Haig) plays around with the “What if’s” (what if you chose a different path in life or chose to pursue this dream instead of that?); this book addresses the questions we sometimes ask each other: “what would you do if you could go back in time?”.

There’s also some kind of simplicity in this book. For one, almost the entire setting takes place inside the café (except when the author was telling the background stories of each of the four characters). The rules are made clear at the beginning and there’s some lesson to be learnt here, that one cannot fully change the past but a difference can still be made.

Going Forward

Generally I prefer high fantasy books (eg. Lord of the Rings, The Belgariad, etc…) but for some reason I’ve found myself being drawn to these poignant, moving stories. Starting with The Travelling Cat Chronicles, then the Midnight Library and now this book. I’ve got my sights on The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa and If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura as next on my list. I’m actually also curious if there’s already a movie adaptation of this (guess I should hit Google).

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoy heart-moving stories with a sense of nostalgia. It’s a great book for easy reading, as the pace is neither slow or heart racing, just a perfect book to read by a fire or in a little nook. I know one this for sure. Before the Coffee Gets Cold might just also ask you “If you could go back, Who would you want to meet?”