I don’t often watch Japanese TV, but last night I saw an interesting segment on a news show about a new Starbucks concept store which recently opened in Tokyo, it’s called Inspired by Starbucks. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, was there for the opening.
Original picture from the Japanese Starbucks website
I am sorry, I don’t have my own pics of the new shop since Kurashiki is way too far from Tokyo, but if I was anywhere near the capital, I would be heading to Setagaya to try it out. The new shop is not too far from the Futakotamagawa station on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi line and from what I understand, they chose this location because the rent was a bit cheaper than central Tokyo.
From what I can see from the news reel and Japanese bloggers, the new shop is modeled after the Roy Street Coffee and Tea located in Seattle.
The coffee shop looks really good and they have hand dripped coffee, french press and Clover brewed coffee. I often drink french press Reserve Coffee at my local Starbucks in Kurashiki and it’s a great experience, so I would love to taste the hand dripped coffee and Clover version.
The new shop also offers a different food menu and they also have red wine, white wine, sparkling and two beers on offer including the Redhook ESB.
The goal of Starbucks is to open 1000 stores in Japan and they are almost there since Tottori is the only prefecture without a Starbucks so far.
If you visit this new shop, don’t hesitate to share your impressions.
Here is a couple of links from Japanese bloggers.
http://www.danshihack.com/2013/04/23/junp/inspired_by_starbucks.html
http://ameblo.jp/sakura-beautiful/entry-11523360454.html
http://foodplace.exblog.jp/18596150/
Here is the shop page in Japanese
http://www.starbucks.co.jp/inspired/
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