Author Talk and Signing: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Meet Author Toshikazu Kawaguchi
In conversation about his international bestselling series Before the Coffee Gets Cold

In partnership with Hanover Square Press and the Japan Foundation, New York

Japan Society is honored to welcome bestselling author Toshikazu Kawaguchi for an exclusive talk and signing in celebration of the upcoming release of the newest book in his Before the Coffee Gets Cold series – Before We Forget Kindness. Attendees can pre-order copies of Before We Forget Kindness at the event and receive an exclusive signed bookplate and bookmark to take home. Pre-ordered copies can be picked up at Kinokuniya NYC after November 5, or can be shipped for an extra fee.

Author Toshikazu Kawaguchi was born in Osaka, Japan in 1971. He has written, directed and produced plays for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include COUPLE, Sunset Song and family time. His most acclaimed play, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, won the Grand Prize at the Suginami Drama Festival, and he would go on to adapt it into his debut novel.

His Before the Coffee Gets Cold has gone on to become an international bestseller, grow into a series of books and has even been adapted for the big screen.

About Before the Coffee Gets Cold
If you could go back in time, who would you want to meet? In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than 100 years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee – the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most importantly, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold. Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

Books in the series:
Book 1: Before The Coffee Gets Cold
Book 2: Tales From The Café 
Book 3: Before Your Memory Fades 
Book 4: Before We Say Goodbye
Book 5: Before We Forget Kindness

About Before We Forget Kindness
The fifth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series launches in the U.S. on November 5, 2024. In this new installment, four new guests arrive at the mysterious café hoping to travel back in time: a father who could not allow his daughter to get married, a woman who couldn’t give Valentine’s Day chocolates to her loved one, a boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents, and a wife holding a child with no name.

Autographs, Book Sales and Pre-Orders
Attendees of Japan Society’s Toshikazu Kawaguchi talk and signing will be able to purchase books at the event or bring books from home for a signing session following the author’s talk.

Attendees can pre-order copies of Before We Forget Kindness at the event and receive an exclusive signed bookplate and bookmark to take home. Pre-ordered copies will be picked up at Kinokuniya NYC after November 5, or can be shipped for an extra fee.

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Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support for cultural programs is provided by an anonymous donor and the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund.