Starbucks Shinjuku Gyoen
☕ The Coffee Shop in Tokyo’s Great National Garden
Starbucks Shinjuku Gyoen is a store of the American coffee chain located in the heart of Tokyo’s famous Shinjuku Gyoen Garden. Inaugurated in March 2020, the store welcomes visitors with a drink and a pastry for contemplative break in a traditional architectural style building whose refined lines perfectly blend in the landscape.
Inaugurated in March 2020, Starbucks Shinjuku Gyoen is the 1rst private shop to open in the eponymous national garden, one of the most iconic parks of Tokyo’s center. The shop is one of the American brand’s Regional Landmark Stores, a label meaning that it as built with the respect of the Japanese heritage in mind, namely the art of Japanese gardening for this instance.
This prestigious Starbucks address is one of the most remarkable in the capital, on par with the Reserve Roastery Tokyo store and its impressive roasting plant with a view on the Meguro-gawa river’s cherry trees.
A discreet architecture in harmony with nature
Standing on a small green hill overlooking Shinjuku Gyoen’s Naka-no-Ike pond, the new Starbucks building discretely fits in the historical bucolic scenery.
The modern construction is playing with the codes of the traditional Japanese house, in a 2-levels building. Its main features are:
- A roof with a pyramid-shaped gable;
- Squared pillars supporting the large roof; and,
- A completely transparent facade, with glassed walls letting the natural light flow in while providing space to admire the garden from within.
The interior design with simple and refined lines uses raw materials like wood, steel and glass.
After ordering at the central counter, go to the shop’s terrace overlooking the pond at the lower half-floor, on the south-west side. It offers another viewpoint on the garden’s cherry trees blooming at the beginning of spring. At this time of the year, you can also purchase here one of the brand’s mugs or tumblers ornamented with pink sakura 🌸 blossoms.
Starbucks coffee shops are as attractive to tourists than to local customers who come to enjoy their favorite beverages. The limited edition seasonal products are also very popular and consequently Starbucks Shinjuku Gyoen is usually very busy on the weekends during the sakura season. A well-thought waiting line is organized at the entrance of the shop so as to avoid impeding other people’s stroll in the garden.
Aside these particularly busy periods and due to the fact that paying the garden’s entrance fee is required to access the coffee shop, the place is usually rather quiet and contemplative, especially in winter when vegetation is hibernating.