Tales From the Cafe

The novel takes place in the single setting of the Funiculi Funicula café. What effect does this setting have on the tone and themes of the novel?

There are several allusions to fine art throughout the novel. Does art function as a symbol or motif in Tales from the Café? What meaning does it lend to the text?

Parental relationships are important throughout the novel. How does Kawaguchi represent such relationships, and what does the novel suggest about their significance?

How would you describe the tone of the novel? What effect does it have on how Kawaguchi represents the novel’s key themes?

Miki turns seven years old over the course of the novel. How does Kawaguchi characterize her differently than the adult characters in the novel? Which aspects of her dialogue and behavior seem aligned with her actual age, and which seem to indicate her maturity?

Late in the novel, Kazu remembers a time when she almost walked in front of a train. Her art teacher (and Yukio and Kyoko’s mother) Kinuyo arrives and tells Kazu “Take me with you” (197). Not feeling so alone is a turning point for Kazu. What does the narrative suggest about Kinuyo’s meaning and intentions? What is the significance of this reference to the possibility of collective death by suicide in relation to how Kinuyo’s son, Yukio, thinks about suicide?

How is money represented in the novel? How do issues like bankruptcy relate to the novel’s representation of time travel and human experience?

How does Kawaguchi represent gender in the novel? What is the significance of the magical coffee pouring being a matrilineal trait?