Synopsis
There’s an urban legend about the coffee shop “Funiculi Funicula,” where the story takes place.
By sitting in a specific seat in the cafe, you can travel back in time—but there are some strict rules:
You can only travel back in time while your coffee cools.
Only those who have visited the cafe before can visit in the past.
Changing the past doesn’t change the present.
A “ghostly” woman always sits in your seat, and you can only sit there when she leaves.
Four Stories
・The Woman Who Forgot Her Lover
A woman who longs to convey the words she never had to her ex-lover.
・A Couple’s Time
A wife suffering from dementia and her husband who supports her. They wish to travel back in time and deliver a letter.
・A Promise with My Sister
Sisters’ misunderstandings and regrets. A journey to deliver unspoken feelings to their deceased sister.
・A Letter to My Mother
A daughter longing to meet her deceased mother. A moving story where a mother’s love and a daughter’s growth intersect.
Each story revolves around the cafe employee, Kazu Tokita, and the characters’ emotions quietly intersect.
Thoughts
“You can’t change the past, but you can change your heart.”
These words are at the heart of each story.
Going back to the past won’t change reality. Still, expressing your feelings to someone can help you sort things out. Reading this book leaves you with a warm, lingering feeling that makes you long to meet someone.
This cafe doesn’t exist in our real world.
However, our future actions can sometimes turn bitter memories of the past into good ones.
Of course, the opposite is also true.
You can’t change what happened in the past, but you can change who you are now.
Reading this work gave me the strength to do my best in the present.
