Reviews
Add your review-
Great for architecture lovers
The Dazaifu Starbucks is on the shopping street as you walk up to Dazaifu itself, and while the offerings are what you'd find at any other Starbucks in Japan, the real drawcard here is the design which will stop you in your tracks! It's a Kengo Kuma architectural masterpiece, and reminds me quite a bit of Sunny Hills in Minami Aoyama which also has the stacked wooden beam design. I think it's worth popping into for a coffee for the architectural splendor alone.
-
on Jul 12
For the Design
I've walked past this Starbucks designed by architect Kengo Kuma several times but hadn't been inside until now. It's interesting from the outside, but inside it's like a strange cave or tunnel with wooden cedar beams cris-crossing over the interior walls. It almost gives the feeling of nature, but the beams are all the same size, so it's more industrial than that. Besides the back of the cafe is a glass wall with a view of a traditional style Japanese garden. All of the spaces on this side of the street have this kind of view for guests to enjoy the seasons from inside. As a starbucks, it was just very crowded with tired tourists, and barely any seats available. I could hear a few languages because most of the tourists to this area are from South Korea and China. Staff was cheerful like they were used to being nonstop busy all the time. If you're going to go to a Starbucks, might as well make it a good experience with great design. Article from Starbucks here: https://news.starbucks.com/news/kengo-kuma-on-designing-an-iconic-starbucks-store-in-dazaifu-japan
genkidesu
on Dec 31