Goro breaks up with Fumiko at a café, announcing he is leaving Japan for a job opportunity in America.

Fumiko visits Funiculi Funicula for the first time and discovers the café houses a seat that enables time travel.

Fumiko tries to force the ghost woman out of the time-traveling seat and is struck by a supernatural curse.

Fumiko travels to the past and discovers that Goro's insecurity about his burn scar drove him away from her.

Goro asks Fumiko to wait three years for his return to Japan before she is pulled back to the present.

Kumi Hirai visits the café, writes a letter for her estranged sister, and asks Kei to pass it along.

Kohtake reveals to the café staff that her husband Fusagi's Alzheimer's has progressed until he no longer recognizes her.

Kohtake travels to the past and meets a Fusagi who still recognizes her and carries a letter he never delivered.

Kohtake reads Fusagi's letter and discovers he offered her freedom to leave the marriage if life became too difficult.

Hirai learns that her sister Kumi died in a car accident on her way back from attempting to visit her in Tokyo.

Hirai travels to the past and discovers that Kumi's deepest wish was for both sisters to run the family inn together.

A teenage girl from the future visits the café and asks Kei for a photograph together.

Kei announces her pregnancy to Nagare and refuses to give it up despite the life-threatening risks to mother and baby.

Nagare calls the future café and reveals to Kei that the teenage girl standing before her is her daughter Miki.

Kei returns to the present and checks into the hospital; the following spring, a healthy baby girl is born.

The novel follows four women who visit Funiculi Funicula, a Tokyo café where a special seat allows limited, rule-bound time travel. Fumiko travels to the past after her boyfriend Goro breaks up with her and discovers his deep insecurity about his appearance, leaving her hopeful when he asks her to wait three years for his return. Nurse Kohtake travels back for her Alzheimer's-affected husband Fusagi and finds a letter offering her freedom from the marriage, choosing instead to remain faithfully by his side. Hirai travels to meet her recently deceased sister Kumi and learns that Kumi's dream was for them to run the family inn together, inspiring Hirai to abandon Tokyo and return home. Finally, café wife Kei, knowing she may not survive her pregnancy, travels to the future and meets her teenage daughter Miki, who assures her that she has grown up loved, before Kei returns to give birth to a healthy baby girl.

The essential events driving each of the café's four time-travel stories.

Fumiko asks café regular Hirai and waitress Kazu about rumors that the café can send people back in time.

Kazu explains that only one seat enables time travel and it is occupied by a ghost who leaves just once a day.

Kei arrives at the café looking healthy, and Nagare shares that her latest medical test results require no hospitalization.

Kohtake and Fumiko both wait to use the time-traveling seat, and Fumiko reluctantly concedes priority to the waiting Fusagi.

Fumiko falls asleep while waiting for the ghost woman to vacate the seat, only to wake and find it empty.

Fumiko travels to the past but her pride prevents her from honestly telling Goro she wants him to stay.

Fusagi tells Kazu he has an undelivered letter for his wife and plans to time travel one day to give it to her.

Kazu performs the ceremonial coffee pouring for Kohtake, instructing her to form a strong image of the day she wants to return to.

Kohtake recalls how Fusagi proposed to her with only the words 'let's get married' after sensing her deep unhappiness.

Hirai arrives at the café in mourning clothes after her sister's funeral and reads Kumi's letter for the first time.

Hirai forces the ghost woman from the seat and is immediately struck by the same supernatural curse that once afflicted Fumiko.

Hirai leaves Tokyo and returns to Sendai, later sending the café staff a photograph of herself as the new inn owner.

Fumiko returns to the café and asks Kazu whether it is possible to travel forward into the future instead of the past.

Kei admits to Nagare that she is frightened about whether her unborn child will be happy if Kei does not survive.

Older Fumiko appears in the future café and urges Kei not to let guilt prevent her from connecting with daughter Miki.

This pool covers the secondary scenes and revelations that give context to the four time-travel stories. From Fumiko first hearing rumors about the café and falling asleep waiting for her chance, to Kohtake sharing the story of Fusagi's unconventional marriage proposal, these events build the emotional groundwork for each journey. Hirai's arrival in mourning clothes and her reading of Kumi's letter for the first time show the guilt that finally pushes her toward time travel, while Kei's encouraging health news in spring and Fusagi's quiet announcement about his undelivered letter establish the café's everyday rhythms. Fumiko's return in autumn to ask about traveling forward into the future sets up the emotional stakes of the final story, and Hirai's decision to leave Tokyo is confirmed by a photograph she sends of herself as the inn's new owner. The pool closes in the future café, where an older Fumiko steps in to guide a guilt-stricken Kei toward a meaningful connection with her daughter Miki.

The supporting scenes and backstories that fill out each character's journey.

Kazu warns Fumiko that no matter what she says or does in the past, Goro's departure for America cannot be prevented.

Kazu reveals the ghost woman became permanently trapped in the seat after letting her coffee go cold while visiting her dead husband.

Kazu unusually smiles and tells Fumiko that the future, unlike the unchangeable past, is still entirely hers to shape.

Hirai hides inside the café to avoid her visiting sister Kumi and refuses to read the letter Kumi wrote for her.

Kohtake decides to take the time-traveling seat in Fusagi's place, determined to discover what his undelivered letter contains.

Kohtake lies to Fusagi in the past and tells him his illness gets better, intending to ease the loneliness of his condition.

Kohtake realizes that Fusagi reads travel magazines daily as an unconscious way of remembering the journeys they took together.

Kohtake leaves the café feeling confident rather than lost, urging the staff to stop calling her by her maiden name.

In the past, Hirai breaks down in tears in front of Kumi for the first time, overwhelmed by grief and remorse.

Hirai nearly refuses to drink her cooling coffee, tempted to abandon the present and remain in the past with her living sister.

Kei solemnly reminds Hirai of her promise to Kumi and compels her to drink the coffee and return to the present.

Nagare objects to Kei traveling to the future, fearing she will discover her child does not exist and be destroyed by it.

Kazu breaks her characteristic neutrality and actively supports Kei's wish to visit the future, ensuring Miki will be there to meet her.

Kei arrives in the future expecting to meet a ten-year-old but finds a disorienting teenager wearing unseasonal clothing.

Miki calls Kei 'Mum' for the first time, and Kei realizes with joy that her daughter has grown up surrounded by love.

This pool focuses on the pivotal moments of decision and revelation that transform each time traveler across the novel's four stories. Early on, Kazu establishes the non-negotiable rules of the café, warning Fumiko the past cannot be changed and explaining how the ghost woman came to be permanently trapped, before offering the quietly hopeful truth that the future remains open. Kohtake's arc turns on her compassionate lie to Fusagi in the past and her sudden realization that his daily magazine reading is an unconscious act of love, giving her the strength to reclaim her married name. Hirai's journey is defined by her tearful breakdown in front of Kumi — the first time she has ever let her sister see her cry — and her terrifying near-refusal to drink the cooling coffee, averted only by Kei's firm reminder of her promise. Kei's story hinges on Kazu's unprecedented departure from neutrality, Kei's disorientation at finding a teenager fifteen years into the future rather than ten, and the deeply emotional moment Miki finally calls her 'Mum.'

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional breakthroughs that change each character's heart.