Before The Coffee Gets Cold

Character List

Kazu Tokita:
Kazu works as a server at Funiculi Funicula café, and she is the cousin of Nagare, the café's owner. She
affectionately addresses Kei and Nagare as "sis" and "bro," even though they are not siblings. When serving
customers, she is clad in a white shirt and a black bow tie. When customers wish to embark on a time-
traveling journey, Kazu adopts a composed and unemotional demeanor. She prepares the special coffee that
they must consume before it cools. While she initially warns people against time travel and outlines the
strict travel rules, in the final part of the book, she encourages Kei to travel forward in time to meet her
unborn daughter. Kazu assures Kei that her daughter will be waiting in the café on the designated day. The
novel concludes with Kazu contemplating the transformative aspect of the café's time travel, which can
"change" people's hearts, even if it doesn't bring tangible alterations to the present.

Kei Tokita:
Kei is the wife of Nagare and the mother of Miki. Born with a frail heart, Kei spent a significant portion of
her childhood in and out of the hospital. She encountered Nagare while they were both hospitalized as
young individuals, with Nagare recovering from a severe accident. When working at the café, Kei wears a
wine-red apron. In the fourth section of the book, Kei learns that her pregnancy poses a severe threat to her
already weakened heart. Instead of choosing to terminate the pregnancy, Kei decides to sacrifice her life to
give birth, worrying about not being a part of her child's life. Before entering the hospital to maintain her
own health during pregnancy, Kei travels to the future to meet her daughter, Miki. Miki expresses gratitude
to Kei for giving her life, and Kei returns to the present with determination in her choice.

Nagare Tokita:
Nagare is the proprietor of Funiculi Funicula. He is a large, typically reticent individual. Nagare takes great
pride in the quality of the food served at his café, and he becomes despondent and turns to drinking when
he is unable to find the desired ingredients in the market. Nagare and Kei first met while both were in the
hospital as young patients, with Nagare covered in bandages due to a severe accident involving a truck.
Nagare initially hopes that Kei will choose to terminate their child upon learning that childbirth could
potentially be fatal for her, but he refrains from sharing his opinion, allowing Kei to make her own decision.
In the narrative, when Kei travels to the future, Nagare is unexpectedly in Hokkaido, offering no immediate
explanation for his presence there.

Yaeko Hirai:
Hirai is a regular patron at the café and the owner of a six-seat hostess snack bar situated next to the café.
She frequently visits the café to enjoy a cup of coffee before her work shifts and engage in conversations
with Kazu, Kei, Kohtake, and Nagare. Hirai left her parents' home at eighteen and has not communicated
with them for thirteen years, avoiding them to evade the responsibility of running the family inn. When her
younger sister, Kumi, frequently visits Tokyo to persuade Hirai to return, Hirai usually dodges her,
suspecting that Kumi resents her. Tragically, Kumi dies in a traffic accident after visiting Hirai, causing
Hirai to travel back in time to apologize for abandoning the family. Hirai learns that Kumi never harbored
resentment; instead, Kumi's dream was for them to jointly manage the inn. Unable to prevent her sister's
death, Hirai promises Kumi that she will return to the inn. In the end, Hirai takes charge of the inn and
embarks on a journey to mend her relationship with her parents.

Kumi Hirai:
Kumi is Hirai's younger sister, who always looked up to her sister and is six years her junior. Kumi had to
assume the responsibility of running the family inn in Sendai from a young age when Hirai left their family
home following a dispute with their parents. Kumi frequently travels to Tokyo in an attempt to persuade
Hirai to return and help her run the inn, believing that her sister resents her for it. Tragically, Kumi dies in
a traffic accident on her way home from Tokyo, moments after visiting Hirai. When Hirai travels back in
time, she apologizes to Kumi and learns that Kumi had never harbored resentment; her true desire was for
them to manage the inn together.

Fusagi:
Fusagi is a regular customer at Funiculi Funicula. In the first part of the book, he occupies a corner seat,
engrossed in a travel magazine, while patiently waiting for the ghostly woman to vacate her seat so that he
can embark on a time-traveling journey. In the second part, it is revealed that Fusagi has early-onset
Alzheimer's and wishes to go back in time to deliver a letter to Kohtake. In the letter, he requests her not to
treat him as merely a patient and to leave him if his condition deteriorates. He doesn't want her to act as his
nurse. As the story unfolds, Fusagi continues to visit the café, sometimes recognizing Kohtake as his wife
and at other times growing distressed when she introduces herself in that role.

Kohtake:
Kohtake is another regular customer at Funiculi Funicula and is Fusagi's wife. She frequently visits the café
before or after her nursing shifts at a nearby hospital. When Fusagi no longer recognizes her due to his
Alzheimer's, Kohtake resigns herself to caring for him as if he were a patient. However, she embarks on a
time-traveling journey in the second part of the book to speak with him while he still retains his memory.
Upon learning that Fusagi does not want her to treat him as a patient, Kohtake returns to the present with
renewed affection and commitment to her husband, even if he doesn't recognize her.

Fumiko Kiyokawa:
Fumiko is a customer at Funiculi Funicula and serves as the main point-of-view character in the novel's
opening section. She is an attractive and career-focused woman who experiences heartbreak when her
socially awkward boyfriend, Goro, leaves her to pursue his dream job in America. A week later, Fumiko
travels back in time to rectify their last, disheartening conversation, aware that she cannot influence her
present. However, her conversation with Goro concludes with him asking her to wait for his return in three
years. Fumiko is comforted by the possibility that, although her present remains unchanged, her future may
be brighter. In the novel's conclusion, it is revealed that Fumiko and Goro now run the café together.

Miki Tokita:
Miki is the daughter of Kei and Nagare. She initially appears in the narrative as a schoolgirl who travels
back in time to take a photo with Kei, although Kei doesn't recognize her. In the concluding part of the
novel, it is disclosed that Kei's pregnancy poses a substantial risk to her own life. Kei travels fifteen years
into the future to meet her unborn child. Miki is initially a shy girl who helps out at the café and