Before Your Memory Fades

Before the Coffee Gets Cold #3

Perched on the slopes of Mount Hakodate in northern Japan, Café Donna Donna is known for its stunning view of the harbor below—but its true allure lies in something far more mysterious. Much like Tokyo’s famed Funiculi Funicula, this quiet café grants guests the rare chance to slip through time.

In this third installment from the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Café, four new visitors arrive, each carrying a longing that draws them toward the café’s impossible promise. Alongside a few familiar figures from earlier books, readers will meet:

• A young woman who resents her late parents for leaving her alone

• A comedian haunted by lost love and abandoned dreams

• An older sister overwhelmed by the weight of grief

• A man who discovers his feelings for a childhood friend only when it is too late

Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot and filled with the tenderness, gentle magic, and bittersweet reflection that define Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s work, Before Your Memory Fades once again poses a simple but profound question: if given the chance to revisit the past, what moment would you choose—and why?