Saturday, August 28, 2010

Starbucks Does Kobe

I suppose this isn't completely new news since these cups actually hit shelves a few months ago, but I have decided to spread the word. Starbucks スターバックス, the Seattle-based coffee shop chain is of course very common throughout most parts of Asia. You can find them in China, Korea (not the Northern part), Taiwan, Japan, etc. In Sannomiya, the downtown core of Kobe, there are several locations (always packed to the rafters on a weekend afternoon).

Most major cities in Japan have their own special Starbucks coffee mug. I have a few in my Starbucks mug collection (yes, I am an unabashed Starbucks fan). I have wanted to buy a Kobe mug because I really enjoy the city and know I won't be living here forever. I wanted one as a keepsake I suppose. The Kyoto one I have is wonderful as is the Tokyo mug. Unfortunately, the Kobe mug has always looked nasty! It simply looked cheap and poorly designed. Until this year.


The new and much cooler mug of course has Kobe Tower as the main focal point. When lit up at night, the scene around the Kobe waterfront, with Kobe Tower and the ferris wheel at Kobe Mosaic are icons of the Kobe skyline.



On the back side of the mug you of course see the ferris wheel as well as scenes from Mount Rokko and the really wonderful Starbucks located in a historic building in Kitano Cho.

This is a great mug to drink some coffee from. My next purchase will be the Osaka Starbucks mug which came out last year. that one is even cooler than this one!


Earlier in the year I made a video about the very cool Starbucks located in Kitano-cho in Kobe.

3 comments:

QiRanger said...

Great mug! The stylized Starbucks mugs are quite interesting! I saw one in Bali and almost picked it up, but like the older styles better.

Esper Ranger said...

If you don't mind my asking, how much are the Kobe mugs? I might ask my in-laws to pick one up for me.

Hotbrain said...

That's a cool mug. I linked to it on my page about Starbucks Mugs.