Ah, the joy of cozying up with a good book! There’s something special about getting lost in a story that transports you to another world. Japanese literature, in particular, has a way of captivating readers with its unique blend of culture, tradition, and modernity. In this post, we’ll explore three heartwarming Japanese novels that are perfect for a cozy night in: ‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’, ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’, and ‘What You Are Looking for Is in the Library’.
Japanese literature Book 1: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
By Satoshi Yagisawa , ( Translator Eric Ozawa )
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ is a quite novel which you can read in a single reading. It is a beginner friendly novel of just 160 pages, so if you are not a big fan of reading and wants to start reading, this is a perfect book to start for. It’s a Japanese fiction which will take you to the jimbocho street of tokyo where world’s largest secondhand bookshops hub exists.
The story has a female protagonist “takako” who is heartbroken by her boyfriend and left her job too and now is a depressed unemployed person becoming a couch potato making a living out of her savings. Her mother told her to call her uncle whom she has not contacted for a decade and was asked by her uncle to visit his bookshop in tokyo to help him as she got no work to do right now. After a lot of thought, she planned to visit there and starts to live on the second floor of the bookshop. At first she just used to sit on the counter and when her uncle is back, she straight goes to sleep. Al she was doing is just eat and sleep but one night she visits a coffee shop with her uncle which has a cozy environment that eases her depressing mood, then after returning she couldn’t sleep so she took a book from the stack of old books in her room and starts to read and now one book after another, she is now enjoying reading and spends her lot of time in reading than sleeping. Now she even started to talk with regular customers and found a best friend from the coffee shop, she was waitress at the coffee shop. And here relations with her wierdo (she has a image of him like this ) uncle satoru has been lot improved and she started to understand him a little.
Her uncle satoru is the morisaki bookshop’s owner and his wife left him without any intimation 5 years ago. But in second part of the book, she returned to the bookshop when takako left from the bookshop and found herself a home and a new job and used to often visit there. Then in story there is a trip of takako and momoko (her uncle’s wife) to mountains where she found out the reason why she left. After the return, she again left without saying but this time she told her uncle to follow her and asked her to come back, But he comes back without her but with a face of no regrets because she said she will return soon and he will be waiting for her, story says that yes she leaves him and disappears without any notice but maybe all she wanted to be found. Apart from it there is a story about takako and wada who she met in the coffee shop and was a customer of her bookshop, also there is a resolve of her ex boyfriend too. overall there are many heartwarming moments in the book which you will get while reading the book.
The sequel of this book is “More days at the morisaki bookshop ” where is the further story of momoko returning and managing bookshop again with her uncle, her friend tomo and her past, takako and wada relationship, and so on.
I liked this book because this book kinda showed the healing part and as i was beginner too while reading this book, so i liked this book as it makes the momentum for my reading. The book showed the joy of connecting with the customers and the community. I adored this book for its gentle pace, vivid descriptions of Tokyo, and the way it celebrates the beauty of everyday moments.
Book 2: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
By Toshikazu Kawaguchi, (Translator Geoffrey Trousselot)
In a narrow back alley in Tokyo lies a café called Funiculi Funicula. In the café, customers have the opportunity to travel to a time of their choosing, as long as they follow a long list of rules. There is only one seat in the café that allows time travel; the seat is only available when the ghost that usually occupies it goes for a toilet break; once back in time, customers can’t leave the seat; the only people in the past who can be met are people who have visited the café; whatever happens in the past, the present won’t change; and, most importantly, the customer has to return to the present before their cup of coffee goes cold.
The novel follows the stories of the café staff, notably the barista Kazu tokita, and four different customers. The first customer is a businesswoman named Fumiko who tries to repair her relationship with her boyfriend after he left the country for a job in the United States. The second customer, a nurse named Kohtake, tries to find a letter that her Alzheimer–stricken husband wrote. The third customer is a bar owner named Hirai, who tries to initiate a conversation with her sister whom she’s been avoiding. The fourth customer is Kei, one of the café co-owners, who tries to go to the future to talk to her unborn daughter. Through the stories of its four characters, the author delivers a compelling message: the past cannot be altered, but the future remains open and full of possibilities.
In 2017, a sequel was released in Japan: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe. A second sequel, Before Your Memory Fades, was published in 2018 and the third one, called Before We Say Goodbye, followed in 2021. The fourth sequel was published in Japanese in 2023, and its English translation is slated for publication in September 2024 as Before We Forget Kindness.
I adored this series of books a lot. I can’t even express my love for these books. These are the sequel of books where each book contains four chapters and each chapter has a different customer vising cafe and goes back in the past.
Why i LOVED THIS BOOK?
” At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present does not change. so it raises the question : just what is the point of that chair?
No matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart , it clearly has its purpose.”
The end of the book states this paragraph, and yes i learned from this book a big lesson that is even when your loved ones dies, you should smile after their death instead of spending your days in misery because it will make them miserable too as they watch over you. Then their life will have no meaning if they make people miserable after their death. You should be happy for them!!
Hence, there is a perfect cozy and heart warming book where many times you will find yourself crying like me while reading this book. The true magic of this story lies not in the time-traveling café, but in the human connections that transcend time. May this beautifully crafted novel inspire you to cherish the moments you share with loved ones, and to appreciate the complexity of human emotions. And who knows? Perhaps, like the characters in this book, you’ll discover that even the smallest moments can have a profound impact on your heart.”
Book 3: What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
By Michiko Aoyama (Translator Alison Watts)
Through five seemingly unconnected stories, this book introduces us to Sayuri Komachi, the enigmatic librarian of the Community House library who has an almost magical ability to recommend precisely the right book for every reader, the one even they didn’t know they needed. As each of our protagonists is struggling with a different challenge, through the transformative power of books they find a new and different outlook on life, rediscovering joy and meaning.
The book is framed as a series of chapters essentially reading as short stories, each focused on a different character. The stories are lightly interconnected but can be read separately, the Community House and the library being the only real points in common. I liked how varied the cast of characters was, and how they each experienced different issues connected to the specific phase of their life they were going through – from recent graduates looking for their place in the world to a recently retired man seeking a purpose beyond work. They were also very well drawn, each with their own individuality. I instantly formed a connection with them, and have been thinking about them as I would old friends since finishing the book – always a sign of some very good characters indeed!
If anything, Sayuri Komachi herself was the only character that felt slightly unexplored, save for a few peeks at her character here and there through her (brief) interactions with the library users. This was probably done to keep an air of mystique around her character, but I really would have liked to know more about her. Still, I enjoyed what we did see of her!
One of my favourite aspects about this book was its focus on community and building positive, supportive relationships through open communication, trust, and small acts of kindness. This was particularly refreshing, as I’ve been growing tired of the rampant individualism permeating all aspects of society. Seeing the characters in this book rediscover the value of meaningful connections was like a balm for the soul.
Overall, this was a delightful, heartwarming read that I was genuinely happy to curl up with every night and that left me with a smile on my face, a deep-seated feeling of peace and contentment and a strong desire to hug my loved ones tighter than usual. It’s a simple book that does what it says on the tin, but perhaps this time it was exactly what I was looking for in the library.
These three Japanese literature novels have captured my heart with their gentle pace, vivid descriptions, and celebration of everyday moments. Whether you’re a fan of books, Tokyo, or just looking for a heartwarming read, I highly recommend adding these titles to your reading list. As we cozy up with a good book, let’s remember to appreciate the beauty in the everyday moments and the joy of connecting with others.
To read more, visit our library cafe website.
Nice books collection
Greatly written blog, just some adjustments that is you don’t need to write whole story of the book, just a little overview of the book and your own review is all that needs. Keep it up!! <3
Hey Thanks for your honest review. I will keep it in mind next time.