Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series 5 Books Collection Set

Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series 5 Books Collection Set

The Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a beautifully written, emotionally rich collection of five interconnected novels centered around the concept of time travel through the lens of love, regret, and forgiveness. Set in and around a mysterious Tokyo café named Funiculi Funicula, the stories explore the lives of various characters who are given a unique opportunity—to travel back in time, but only under very specific conditions. Each book in the series takes readers deeper into this world, revealing the heartaches and hopes of people bound by time, memory, and unspoken feelings.

1. Before We Forget Kindness (Hardcover):
In the latest installment, the magical Tokyo café continues to welcome new visitors, each with unresolved emotions and unfinished stories. Among them is a father struggling to accept his daughter’s decision to marry and a woman who regrets never giving Valentine’s Day chocolates to the one she secretly loved. These characters are driven not just by nostalgia, but by the need to heal past wounds. Through their visits to the café, they hope to find closure and peace. Despite knowing that the present cannot be changed, they embark on these journeys back in time, searching for understanding, forgiveness, and a chance to show kindness before it’s too late.

2. Before the Coffee Gets Cold:
This is the book that started it all. In a small, tucked-away café in Tokyo, four customers arrive with different intentions, all connected by a desire to revisit a specific moment in their past. One wishes to confront the man who abandoned her. Another hopes to reconnect with her sister. A woman desires one last conversation with her husband, who is losing his memories to Alzheimer’s. Each story is gentle yet deeply moving, illustrating the emotional depth of ordinary lives and the power of even the briefest connection. The time travel element is unique—customers must sit in a specific seat and return before their coffee gets cold. Otherwise, they risk being stuck in the past forever.

3. Tales from the Café:
This second volume builds on the first, expanding the cast and exploring the central question: If you could travel back in time, who would you want to meet again—just one last time? The stories are translated with care and compassion, bringing to life individuals who wish to say what was left unsaid. The characters’ motivations range from seeking forgiveness to wanting to express love or regret. This volume maintains the original’s cozy, bittersweet atmosphere while adding layers of emotional complexity.

4. Before Your Memory Fades:
Moving beyond Tokyo, the story takes us to Café Donna Donna, located on Mount Hakodate in northern Japan. Known for its breathtaking views of the port, the café also shares a similar time-traveling legend. In this enchanting setting, customers once again seek moments in the past to relive, understand, or reframe their memories. Whether it’s meeting a lost loved one or mending old relationships, the characters are guided by their hearts, even if they know that nothing in the present will change. This book adds a new dimension to the series by showing how the same magic exists beyond Funiculi Funicula.

5. Before We Say Goodbye:
Returning to Café Funiculi Funicula, the final book explores the lives of its regular customers and their continued experiences with the café’s magical yet emotionally delicate time-travel service. Each character faces the reality that goodbyes are inevitable, but how they say them can make all the difference. This final volume ties the series together with warmth, reflection, and a touch of poetic finality. Through heartfelt storytelling, the book reminds us that while we cannot alter the past, we can change how we live in the present.