Visiting the Starbucks in Kawagoe Kanetsuki-dori Pt. 1

Originally featured on dennisamith.com

Back on March 19, 2018, Starbucks opened a shop in Kawagoe’s Koedo (Little Edo) where many historic buildings are located.

And similar to Kawagoe’s unique landscape in Saitama prefecture, Starbucks made sure to match the traditional architecture of the area with the same rooftops but yet keeping things modern and also unique when compared to other Starbucks in Japan but also around the world.

In fact, of the many Starbucks I have visited, I have to say in terms of Starbucks shops (and this is not include the Starbucks Reserve locations), this has to be the best location I have visited by far.

From interior aesthetics to the Japanese garden in the back, I haven’t seen anything like it.

And sure, people make a big deal about Starbucks in Kyoto, but Starbucks Kawagoe is much more convenient and less cramped. It’s quite spacious, the ambiance is wonderful and a lot of thought went into the design.

So, for part 1, I’ll focus on the exterior and part of the interior, while tomorrow, for part 2, I will focus on the garden and other things I noticed about the location.

I went to the location when it was celebrating it’s 1st year anniversary.

Once you go in, I loved how the interior looked and most importantly how spacious it was. While Starbucks in Kyoto looked cool from its exterior, while going inside, it was cramped to the point that you have to order near the entrance, then pick up your drinks/food in another area and when you want to find a place to sit, the other rooms are cramped. And it doesn’t help that the place was crowded.

Perhaps that thought went into Kawagoe, because they made the space quite spacious where one can order, find a seat indoor or outdoor. In fact, there are a total of 77-seats at this coffeehouse and the coffee shop uses materials to emulate the black plaster that is representative of the Edo Period.

Even the benches are special as they are covered in Kawagoe Tozan, a locally made fabric that was created near the end of the Edo period. And you can see the ume musubi knots as well.

I’ll feature the garden tomorrow but I just want to say that the location is not difficult to find and a few shops right near the Toki no Kane bell tower which I recently wrote about.

It’s important to note that to get to Kawagoe Kanetsuki-dori, you will need to take a bus from Kawagoe Station. Have your pocket wifi with you to look at the schedule on Google Maps.

Here is an example (please note that there are other buses that take you close to the location):

But definitely enjoy the area around the Starbucks Kawagoe, the shops and restaurants and the overall vibe in Little Edo is wonderful, especially the cityscape which has remained unchanged since the 18th century Edo period.

---