Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a cosy, heartwarming Japanese novel about love, loss, memories, regret, and the possibility of travelling back in time. Set in a small café tucked away in a Tokyo back alley, the story introduces a mysterious opportunity: customers can return to the past, but only under very specific rules.

The café has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than a century, and its unusual time-travelling experience attracts visitors who have unfinished conversations, unspoken feelings, or someone they desperately wish to meet one more time.

Through four emotional stories, the novel explores what people might say or change if they were given the chance to revisit a moment from their past. Whether it is confronting someone who left, receiving a final message from a loved one, meeting someone they could no longer see, or reconnecting with an important person, each journey offers a different perspective on love, relationships, and letting go.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a beautifully written Japanese fiction novel that reminds readers that while the past cannot truly be changed, the way we understand it can be.