[1] It tells the story of a café in Tokyo that allows its customers to travel back in time, as long as they return before their coffee gets cold.

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.

[5][6] 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.

[7] Terry Hong of The Christian Science Monitor stated that the "narrative is occasionally uneven and tends to meander" but that the author "has a surprising, unerring ability to find lasting emotional resonance.

"[8] Ian J. Battaglia of the Chicago Review of Books wrote that "despite the occasional clumsiness, the narrative is deeply moving" and that the "characters are the real stars here, and their empathy for one another is powerful.