Julia Donaldson CBE - Author Photo

Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a Japanese author, screenwriter, and director born in Osaka, Japan on April 3, 1971. He was formerly the director, producer, and writer for the theatrical group Sonic Snail. As a playwright, his works include "COUPLE," "Sunset Song," and "Family Time". Kawaguchi's novel "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" was adapted from a play by the same name, which won the grand prize at the 10th Suginami Drama Festival. The novel "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" tells the story of a café in Tokyo that allows customers to travel back in time, as long as they return before their coffee gets cold. It was originally a play that began in 2010 and was later adapted into a novel in 2015. The book has been translated into English and published in Britain by Picador in September 2019. It has sold more than 800,000 copies in Japan and has been adapted into a movie. The novel has also been sold in more than nine jurisdictions, including Turkey, China, Hungary, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Kawaguchi has written several books about the coffee shop and its special feature, including "Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe," which was released as a sequel in 2017, and "Before Your Memory Fades," published in 2018, followed by "Before We Say Goodbye" in 2021.