Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Accompanying me is my 1st cup of pea berry coffee and I am dying to finish this review before the day’s 4th cup gets cold. This book is sewn up by stories of regret and vehement, remorseful moments in the life of the travelers. The one that captivated me the most was the story of the mother and child, where the creator get a glimpse of her beautiful child, who once belonged, without getting a chance to experience the process of bringing up. You’ll get to see why, soon.

Holding those unfinished hopes under the refuge of my pen, I would like to begin looking into their minds to see if I could release the river of feelings.

Unbending Rules

Nothing you do in the past bear a minute change in the present. It stays as it is, as if any actions done, just undone. You must sit in a certain seat for the transportation to occur. The person who you intend to see, must have visited the café of Funiculi Funicula, at least once in their life. While in the past or future, your body should stick with the chair, and it mustn’t budge, for whatever reason there might be. And most importantly, the one who travels must return to the present by finishing the coffee before it gets cold.

The Lovers

The still boiling lost love of Fumiko for Goro. A basement café where people gets the once in a lifetime compelling opportunity to travel back and forth in time, Fumiko, the female lead in this story says YES and hops on that journey. Was it a ride to throw away the regret buried inside her of holding on to those silent date nights or just the mind playing her with an expectation to hit a second chance at life as couples ? What I felt whilst panning across the final pages was a deep congestion in my chest of a plunging knife in the locus of emotions, similar to what Fumiko might have felt.

3 years to wait and 1 week back in time, she came back to reality, by wishing him success and cherishing the memory of the due coffee date. The empty coffee cup on the table was cleared.

Husband & Wife

Living in peace with oblivion was what’s left for Fusagi, his abode of storage, rummaging to recollect the remaining things, though forgotten, or I must say, snatched away by the vile forces of Alzheimer’s. Instances where Fusagi asks Kohtake who she is or do they know each other, tore me down, but for his wife, it was merely the natural response to a bad joke.

It was all about what he longed to say, carefully enclosed in the letter which Fusagi was supposed to give her, but the flow in the placement of plots had let Kohtake admire those poorly written words, before he handing it over. Nearing the end, right before waving goodbye to the Fusagi in the past, flashes in the mind of his wife in split seconds, of how it all began; the one word love letter responses, his love for traveling and the sweet kindness of the “balanced” landscape gardener. Kohtake shed tears to the moving words, as she listens…

The Sisters

In this story, I have to deliberately omit the detailing of certain important people, in order to preserve the freshness in their introduction in the final tale.

Fear of death that runs through our body, especially in those final moments, might be the only living signal that the nervous system sends across. Here, Kumi closes the door of life with a staggering feeling of despondency, of being at a loss of not seeing her Big Sis, before getting wiped away in the accident.

It was her wish to run the inn of Takakura together with Hirai, but Hirai never took time to adore her little sister’s love or even her presence. Taking advantage of the counter as a hideout was the ending exhibition of love toward her. All the resentment after the final meeting, carved her pride out to burst in tears. As seen in the movies, Hirai left everything behind to take complete responsibility of the inn, following her lovely sister’s still-burning desire.

The coffee required to travel to 3 days before her sister passed away costed her 380 yen and the money was punched in by Nagare, the owner of the basement café, Funiculi Funicula.

Mother & Child

Now I must indulge in the pleasure of inviting the premium characters that take over the paramount part of the rest of story. The white coffee cup and the silver kettle, being the instruments for the trip are mostly handled by the sisters, though not directly blood related, nameless places in the story drives us to believe so; Kazu and Kei, who got each other’s backs.

I really like the positioning of Kei’s love for Nagare, the giant garden man in plasters, as symbolized by his wife. The café became famous for it’s Nagare brewed Ethiopian mocha beans, carefully extracted for the perfect black coffee to suit the taste sensation of most of their patrons. Since the urban legend had it, the time travel to meet that ONE requires the seat and coffee to blend oneself in the steam as you land in the desired direction of visit.

Exactly 2 weeks before Kei plans her voyage to the future, lands a girl, thought to be in junior high, in the traveler’s chair asking for a picture with Kei, to be captured in her futuristic camera.

Drawing air with a weak heart, life had a toll on her at times, particularly during the carrying period. Frequent black outs and deteriorating health led her loved ones to ponder about her choices of whether to bear the child or not, but Kei was mentally strong and single-minded, ready to explore what the remaining years had in store for her.

As Kazu arrives with the steamy hot kettle and the dedicated cup, Kei’s eyes talks with her husband which opens up an ocean of unanswerable, nonplussed questions, leaving a forlorn nod in return.

It’s the future, 15 years from where it was. Since there’s this adamant rule of having your tush locked to the chair, I am, on that account, restrained to elaborate any outside-the-café developments. But who you intend to meet on 27th August is a long treasured ornament.

The entry bells chimed differently for Kei as she saw the pretty photograph-girl. My fingers are yearning for words to chop in, against the keyboard. Being absent for 15 momentous years, her dearest friend, Fumiko covered for Miki, Kei’s cute little girl. Lost for words, Kei tries to handle her emotions gently with the temperature of the coffee cup in check. The next few minutes simmered in perplexity and perspiration, as in finding a way to communicate the lost-found love between the out-of-the-blue appeared mother and her teenage daughter.

What remained for Kei, was a flowing Thank You from the trembling lips of Miki. In return, Kei expressed the honor of letting her into the world, through her dejected words, as she spiraled back to the chair occupied by the woman in the dress.

At odds with the question raised by the magazine about the time travelling café, the whole purpose of the journey was just to amplify the depth of people’s feelings towards one another. And, if the chair was able to succeed in transforming at least one individual, the purpose has been deemed, served.

I think this book owns protagonists because everyone you meet has stories that stays close to them like wind and sea, so poignantly portrayed by Kawaguchi. And in my opinion, this piece of writing resonates more with people who’ve read the book. Of course, reviews are opinions of the witnessed, for the yet to witnesses, and I truly believe that you would be prompted to get a copy to participate in the time travel along with these blissful roles.