Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series Box Set – 6 Books by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The Complete Six-Book Journey Through Café Funiculi Funicula

Discover the magical and deeply emotional world of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series with this complete six-book collector’s box set.

Hidden in a quiet Tokyo alley is a small café called Funiculi Funicula.

At first glance, it appears to be an ordinary place serving carefully brewed coffee.

But the café holds an extraordinary secret.

Under very specific circumstances, customers can travel through time.

They can return to a conversation.

Meet someone they lost.

Say something they never had the courage to say.

Or see a loved one again.

But there are rules.

And the most important rule is simple:

They must return before the coffee gets cold.

Time Travel With a Difference

The time travel in this series is not about changing history.

Visitors cannot rewrite the past.

They cannot undo every mistake or prevent every tragedy.

Instead, the experience changes the person who travels.

A conversation may provide closure.

A reunion may reveal something that was misunderstood.

A few minutes with someone who is gone may help a person finally move forward.

This gives the series a very different emotional tone from traditional science-fiction time-travel stories.

The focus is less on changing events and more on:

• Love
• Regret
• Memory
• Family
• Grief
• Forgiveness
• Human connection
• Second chances

Café Funiculi Funicula

The café itself is at the heart of the series.

Customers hear stories about its mysterious ability to send people through time.

But travelling is not simple.

There are strict conditions.

Visitors must sit in a particular seat.

They cannot leave that seat while travelling.

They cannot change what already happened.

And their journey ends when their coffee becomes cold.

These limitations transform time travel into something deeply personal.

The question is not:

“How can I change history?”

Instead, it becomes:

“If you had only a few minutes with someone again, what would you say?”

That question connects all six books.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Book 1

The first novel introduces the café and its remarkable rules.

Four visitors enter hoping to revisit important moments from their lives.

Their reasons include relationships, family, grief and the desire to say things that were left unsaid.

This book establishes the emotional style that defines the entire series.

Tales from the Café – Book 2

The second book introduces another group of visitors.

Each has something in the past that continues to affect their present life.

The stories explore regret and the possibility of emotional healing, even when history itself cannot be changed.

Hanover Square Press identifies Tales from the Café as Book 2 of the series.

Before Your Memory Fades – Book 3

The third volume continues the café’s time-travelling tradition through new stories involving love, grief, dreams and relationships.

The Hanover Square Press hardcover edition is catalogued as a 320-page third volume.

Before We Say Goodbye – Book 4

This volume asks another painful question:

What would you do if you had one final opportunity to say goodbye?

Its visitors include people carrying words that were never spoken and moments they wish they could revisit.

Hanover Square Press officially identifies it as Book 4.

Before We Forget Kindness – Book 5

The fifth novel introduces four more guests seeking closure and comfort.

Their stories explore parents, children, love, separation and kindness.

The official series information identifies it as Book 5 and places Before I Knew I Loved You after it.

Before I Knew I Loved You – Book 6

The sixth book brings readers back to the familiar café with four more stories about love, memories and connections that transcend time.

Hanover Square Press published the English hardcover on 26 May 2026, and official publisher information identifies it as the sixth novel in the series.

Why Readers Love This Series

The Before the Coffee Gets Cold books combine a magical premise with very human emotions.

Rather than relying on complicated fantasy world-building, the series focuses on ordinary people facing experiences such as:

• Losing someone
• Falling in love
• Family conflict
• Regret
• Missed opportunities
• Parenthood
• Friendship
• Saying goodbye
• Finding closure

The stories are gentle, emotional and reflective.

This has helped make the series particularly popular among readers of Japanese healing fiction and cosy magical realism.

Major Themes

Love

Romantic, familial and platonic love appear throughout the series.

Memory

Characters confront the way memories influence their present lives.

Regret

Many visitors arrive at the café because there is something they wish they had said or done differently.

Grief

The series handles loss and bereavement with a gentle, reflective tone.

Forgiveness

Some journeys help people understand themselves or others more clearly.

Second Chances

Although the past cannot be changed, visitors sometimes gain a second chance to change their relationship with the present.

Human Connection

At its heart, the series is about people and the importance of saying what matters while there is still time.

Reading Order

Book 1: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Book 2: Tales from the Café

Book 3: Before Your Memory Fades

Book 4: Before We Say Goodbye

Book 5: Before We Forget Kindness

Book 6: Before I Knew I Loved You

This order is confirmed by current publisher series information.

Approximate Total Page Count

The six-book box set itself does not publish a reliable combined page count.

Using current individual Hanover Square Press hardcover bibliographic records, the books are approximately:

Book 1: 272 pages
Book 2: 256 pages
Book 3: 320 pages
Book 4: 240 pages
Book 5: 240 pages
Book 6: 240 pages

Approximate Combined Total

1,568 pages

Individual hardcover records support these page counts, although catalogue pagination occasionally differs between databases.

For WooCommerce, I recommend either entering:

Pages: Approx. 1,568 pages across 6 books

or leaving the page field blank and listing the individual titles.

About Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a Japanese author and playwright born in Osaka.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold developed from his stage play, which won the grand prize at the Suginami Drama Festival.

The series has since become an international bestseller and has been translated for readers around the world.