Tales from the Cafe

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote, “The most difficult thing in life is to live and not lie.” People lie for different reasons. Some lies are told in order to present yourself in a more interesting or more favorable light; others are told to deceive people. Lies can hurt, but they can also save your skin. Regardless of why they are told, however, lies most often lead to regret.

People willing to help someone struggling, without expecting anything in return, are rare indeed.

The first rule: the only people who you can meet while in the past are those who have visited the café. If the person you want to meet has never visited the café, you can return to the past, but you cannot meet them. In other words, if visitors came from far and wide across Japan, it would turn out to be a wasted journey for practically all of them. The second rule: there is nothing you can do while in the past that will change the present. Hearing this one is a real letdown for most people and normally they leave in disappointment. That is because most customers who want to return to the past are wishing to fix past deeds. Very few customers still want to travel back after they realize they can’t change reality. The third rule: there is only one seat that allows you to go back in time. But another customer is sitting on it. The only time you can sit there is when the customer goes to the toilet. That customer always goes once a day, but no one can predict when that will be. The fourth rule: while in the past, you cannot move from your seat. If you do, you will be pulled back to the present by force. That means that while you are in the past, there is no way to leave the café. The fifth rule: your stay in the past begins when the coffee is poured and must end before the coffee gets cold. Moreover, the coffee cannot be poured by just anybody; it must be poured by Kazu Tokita.

According to one theory, both the Japanese and Polynesian peoples originally traveled south from Mongolia. The phonetics of Samoan, one Polynesian language, are similar to Japanese.

When people choose presents hoping to delight the recipient, they have in mind that special person’s reaction. And as they do, they often find that time has suddenly got away from them.

The names of coffee beans mostly derive from where they are grown. In the case of mocha, the beans are grown in Yemen and Ethiopia and named after Yemen’s port city of Mocha, where they were traditionally shipped from.

It wasn’t that he was dissatisfied with his ordinary life, it was just that from somewhere in his heart he heard, I want to find work that is worth spending a lifetime on.

A parent’s love for their child is bottomless. Their children remain children, no matter how old they grow.

“There is no greater suffering than that of a parent who is unable to save their own child who wants to die.”

For a parent, a child is a child forever. Never ever expecting anything in return, she was simply a mother who wanted her child to be happy, always, to shower him with love.

Bereavement. It’s a part of life, and carrying out acts of mourning allows us not to forget.

“What have I got wrong? The child I was carrying could do nothing! I couldn’t even let it be born! It was my fault! I was only able to give that child seventy days of life! Only seventy days!” With a composed expression, he calmly waited for her to stop crying, and then said, “That child used its seventy-day-long life for your happiness.” He spoke gently, but with unwavering certainty. “If you remain devastated like this, then your child will have used those seventy days in vain.” His message was not one of empathy. He was pointing out a way Asami could change the way she thought about the grief that she was experiencing. “But if you try to find happiness after this, then this child will have put those seventy days toward making you happy. In that case, its life has meaning. You are the one who is able to create meaning for why that child was granted life. Therefore, you absolutely must try to be happy. The one person who would want that for you the most is that child.”

When spring begins, however, cannot be pinpointed to one particular moment. There is no one day that clearly marks when winter ends and spring begins. Spring hides inside winter. We notice it emerging with our eyes, our skin and other senses. We find it in new buds, a comfortable breeze and the warmth of the sun. It exists alongside winter.

When Kiyoshi walked in, a red-faced man was crying at the far table, and a frail elderly woman was sitting opposite him. At the counter was a boy about elementary-school age and behind the counter was a man six feet tall, presumably a staff member.

“‘If I had led a sad life as a result of my sister’s death, then it would have been as if her death had caused it. So, I thought I mustn’t allow that to happen. I swore to myself that I would make sure that I was happy. My joy would be the legacy of my sister’s life.’

Over the last year, Kiyoshi had become well versed in the rules for returning to the past. One of the things he had learned was that only the women of the Tokita family were able to pour the coffee for returning to the past.

The pourer of the coffee not only had to be a woman of the Tokita family, but she also had to be at least seven years of age.

“My husband only helps out when he has a day off from work. Also, it is currently no longer possible to return to the past under my pouring,” she replied. That’s the same expression that Kazu used. “It is not possible to return to the past when you pour the coffee? Why is that?” Kiyoshi asked. It was like the detective in him had been switched on. In his mind, he was smiling at his inability to refrain from asking questions whenever he was the slightest bit unclear on anything. In reply, Kaname placed her hand on her stomach. “Because of my baby.” She smiled happily. “Really? Why is that?” “When a pourer becomes pregnant with a girl, the pourer’s power is transferred to the baby.” Kiyoshi’s eyes opened in surprise. “Is it right that your daughter will be able to pour coffee to return people to the past when she turns seven?” “Yes. That’s right! You’re quite well informed, aren’t you?” Kiyoshi was no longer listening. Kazu is pregnant. Yet she didn’t seem the least bit happy.

We can never truly see into the hearts of others. When people get lost in their own worries, they can be blind to the feelings of those most important to them.

“In other words, the way I live my life creates happiness for my wife.”

Seasons flow in a cycle. Life too, passes through difficult winters. But after any winter, spring will follow. Here, one spring had arrived. Kazu’s spring had just begun.