The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki (translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood)

I found The Full Moon Coffee Shop to be a pleasant variation on an oft-repeated theme; so many Japanese books with cats as the central characters seem to have seized the market. While I like cats, I am not so fond of astrology, another theme within this book. But, there are other ideas within its pages that gave me pause.

Let’s start with the idea of a “pop-up” cafe appearing when you need it most, and serving delicacies suited just for you. Take for example, a simple glass of water:

…I gazed down at the glass. It was small, slightly curved, and contained three ice cubes and some water. At the gentle impact of the glass being set down on the table, tiny shards of light began to shimmer on the surface of the water, like gold dust. Baffled, I leaned to get a closer look, but the golden specks had disappeared.

 I took a long gulp of water to steady my nerves. It tasted purer than any water I’d ever drunk. As it trickled down my throat, it seemed to dissolve directly into me…

What is more refreshing than water when one is truly thirsty? And, if you’re ready for a snack, how about some of these:

• Full Moon Pancakes have a sphere  of butter and Astral Syrup accompanies them, with a golden shimmer.
• Lunar Chocolate Fondant on a white plate, consisting of a piece of cake out of which thick molten chocolate oozes forth.
• Planetary Affogato has two spheres of yellow ice cream in a glass, which seemed to have been sprinkled with gold dust, and coffee poured over the top.
• Mercury Cream Soda, a beautiful sky blue soda, topped with ice cream and a cherry. The pale gray ice cream is actually lemon sorbet.

These imaginary treats tickled my fancy, and though Christmas decadence has recently ended, I long to indulge in these. I also found myself writing down quotes which seemed applicable to  myself or those around me:

The full moon gives us the power to let things go. That includes negative emotions such as regret, jealousy, or obsession. Those weren’t the only things I wanted to let go of. There was also the fear of what others thought of me. My terror of being criticized. My habit of facing up to the truth. “I think I could do with a bit of letting go,” I murmured. 

and

What I really needed…was to live as comfortably and peacefully as I could in the present. Rather than living in the past and possible future. 

and

Our world is governed by the mirror principle, everything you do in life is reflected back on you in time. Hurt someone, and it’ll rebound on you eventually. Affairs inevitably cause a great deal of pain - especially when there’s family involved. All that suffering will come back to haunt you.

and

If you obsess too much over the restrictions you've placed on yourself, you’ll lose sight of what you really want. Instead liberate yourself. Embrace who you really are.

and 

Throughout my life, I’d always been my harshest critic, constantly policing my own desire. 

As I mentioned earlier in the post, New Age thinking and Astrology do not appeal to me. Instead, I gain my hope and peace from Christ. And yet, there are principles in this book which I can eagerly apply in this new year, such as letting go of others’ opinions, or living fully in the present. I found this book a light, and enjoyable, way to begin the Japanese Literature Challenge 18.

p.s. The collage of pictures is from the artist Chihiro Sakurada, to whom the author credits her story.