A painting catches your eye as you sip your coffee. A sculpture or mural reveals something about the culture and history of the place around you. Encounters with art are increasingly becoming part of everyday life, extending beyond museums and galleries.

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Across Japan, Starbucks stores incorporate artworks that reflect local culture, traditional materials, and the creative practices of artists. These expressions range from paintings, sculptures, and murals to interior spaces shaped by regional craftsmanship.

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In Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood and Kyoto, Starbucks has created spaces that combine cafés with art galleries. In Kanazawa, an artwork made from discarded Kutani ware welcomes visitors, while in Fukui, traditional Echizen washi paper becomes part of the architectural setting. Each location reflects a relationship with its surrounding community and the artists whose work it presents.

What connects these spaces is the opportunity to encounter art through the simple, everyday ritual of enjoying a cup of coffee. Through eight Starbucks locations across Japan, we explore the cultural possibilities of the café as a place for creative expression.

Where Art Finds an Audience: New Forms of Café Galleries in Tokyo and Kyoto

Starbucks Café & Art Gallery Yanaka Goten-zaka, Tokyo
Located on Goten-zaka in Tokyo's historic Yanaka neighborhood, Starbucks Café & Art Gallery Yanaka Goten-zaka is conceived as a meeting point between art and coffee.

Bringing a café and gallery together under one roof, the space allows visitors to enjoy coffee while engaging with contemporary art.

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The gallery is programmed and operated by ArtSticker, an art platform run by The Chain Museum. The platform seeks to connect different aspects of the art experience, from discovering works to fostering dialogue between artists and audiences.

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The gallery presents rotating exhibitions in three formats: thematic exhibitions, art fairs, and public exhibitions, introducing a diverse range of works, particularly by emerging artists. With the displays changing throughout the year, each visit offers the possibility of discovering something new.

A stop for coffee can become an introduction to an unfamiliar artist or artwork. By placing a gallery within the rhythms of everyday life, the café creates an accessible point of entry into contemporary art.


Starbucks Café & Art Gallery Kyoto BAL, Kyoto
At Kyoto BAL, Starbucks Café & Art Gallery Kyoto BAL takes the idea of a shared artists' studio as its guiding concept. Works by more than 30 artists are integrated throughout the space, creating an environment in which visitors are surrounded by different artistic perspectives as they enjoy their coffee.

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The creative figures behind the space are particularly noteworthy.

Spatial and program design was undertaken by Sandwich, the creative platform led by sculptor Kohei Nawa. The selection and invitation of participating artists were handled by ONIDAIMYO, a curatorial collective comprising Kengo Kito, Daisuke Ohba, and Kohei Nawa.

Sandwich brings together artists, designers, architects, dancers, and other creative practitioners, encouraging collaboration across disciplines.

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Seen in the context of these activities, the Kyoto BAL location can be understood as a meeting place for different artistic practices and forms of expression, as well as a setting for exhibiting completed works.

While the Yanaka gallery creates new encounters through its changing exhibitions, Kyoto BAL brings the sensibilities of numerous artists together within a single environment.

Both spaces allow visitors to experience contemporary art as part of the everyday pleasure of enjoying coffee.

Transforming Local Heritage into Art: Craft and Creativity in Kanazawa, Fukui, and Nagano

Starbucks Coffee Kanazawa Rinto West Exit, Ishikawa
At Starbucks Coffee Kanazawa Rinto West Exit, located at Kanazawa Station, visitors encounter Kanazawa Jii Toridori, an artwork by the artist collective Yodogawa Technique.

Known for creating sculptures and installations from discarded objects, waste materials, and debris, Yodogawa Technique brings a distinctive perspective to the relationship between art, materials, and the environment.

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The work incorporates damaged and unwanted pieces of Kutani ware, a traditional ceramic craft associated with Ishikawa Prefecture, alongside marine debris. Its subject is the resplendent quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, one of the world's coffee-producing countries.

A traditional craft from Kanazawa and the natural world of a distant coffee-growing region come together in a vividly colored sculpture assembled from discarded materials.

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By transforming locally rooted materials into a new visual form, Yodogawa Technique invites viewers to reconsider the cultural significance of objects that might otherwise be thrown away.

At the gateway to Kanazawa, the artwork connects coffee, regional craftsmanship, and environmental awareness.


Starbucks Coffee Takefu Central Park, Fukui
At Starbucks Coffee Takefu Central Park in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, local craftsmanship is incorporated directly into the interior design.

The ceiling above the bar counter features Echizen washi, a traditional Japanese paper produced in the region. Its design brings together the circular forms associated with hand-drip coffee preparation and the Japanese concept of en, meaning the bonds and connections between people and communities.

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The tactile qualities of washi and a visual motif inspired by the act of brewing coffee give the space its distinctive character.

The store also displays original artwork by Anji Umeda, an artist from Echizen City.

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Umeda creates paintings that bring together real landscapes, memories, and imagined subjects in unexpected combinations. His work for the store explores the relationship between coffee and the local community.

Traditional craftsmanship and the expression of a local artist coexist in a café that opens onto the surrounding park.


Starbucks Coffee Shinshu Zenkoji Nakamise-dori, Nagano
Situated along the approach to Zenkoji Temple in Nagano, this Starbucks location incorporates art into an architectural space designed to harmonize with its historic surroundings.

The store's concept centers on the interplay of bustle and tranquility, light and shadow.

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Its interior moves from a dim, tunnel-like passage into an expansive atrium. Against black plaster walls, white hollyhocks introduce a striking floral motif.

A tapestry approximately four meters long, depicting coffee cherries, blossoms, and the mountains of Nagano, occupies a central position in the store.

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The artistic elements were created with the involvement of Mieko Yozan, whose practice includes murals, decorative painting, and other forms of commissioned art.

Within the historic setting of Zenkoji's temple approach, architecture, light, materials, and painting come together. The store offers an example of how a contemporary café can respond to the character of its surroundings while creating a place for people to gather.

A Mural Inspired by Baseball: Art at Hokkaido Ballpark F Village

Starbucks Coffee Hokkaido Ballpark F Village, Hokkaido
At Hokkaido Ballpark F Village in Kitahiroshima, the culture of baseball and the story of coffee come together in a large-scale mural.

The work was created by OVER ALLs, a mural artist collective known for collaborative projects with businesses and communities in Japan and overseas.

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The original mural follows the journey from coffee cherry to finished cup, interweaving scenes of Hokkaido's landscape with imagery from the stadium.

Baseballs and coffee cups appear as recurring visual symbols, creating a composition closely connected to the store's location within the ballpark.

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Seating inspired by stadium stands further reinforces the relationship between the mural and the interior.

Like the artworks in Kanazawa and Nagano, the mural draws on its local setting. Here, however, that connection takes the form of an energetic visual expression of baseball culture and the atmosphere of the ballpark.

Different Creative Voices, Shared Everyday Spaces: Art in Ginza and Beppu

Starbucks Teavana Store Ginza Marronnier-dori, Tokyo
Located in Tokyo's Ginza district, Starbucks Teavana Store Ginza Marronnier-dori specializes in beverages from TEAVANA, Starbucks' tea brand.

At the center of the store is Tracing the Senses Toward Paradise, a work by artist Mariko Kobayashi.

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Kobayashi works across textiles, embroidery, knitting, and painting, combining materials and techniques to explore the cycles of life and the layered relationships between humans and nature.

The work draws inspiration from tea leaves, fruits, herbs, and other elements associated with the world of TEAVANA.

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The tea room also features collages by Nozomi Fujita, an artist represented by HERALBONY, the Japanese art and lifestyle brand.

Words associated with the store's location, including "Ginza" and "Marronnier," appear throughout Fujita's compositions.

The works of two artists with distinct creative approaches coexist within a space dedicated to the experience of tea.


Starbucks Coffee Beppu Park, Oita
At Starbucks Coffee Beppu Park in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, the interior is conceived around the concept of Layered Aroma, evoking the way the steam rising from the city's hot springs mingles with the aroma of coffee.

Original lighting fixtures made using Beppu's traditional bamboo craftsmanship are incorporated into the space.

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The store also displays a sculpture standing more than two meters tall by Hinano Kuwahara, an artist from Oita Prefecture.

Kuwahara creates sculptural forms through welding, using molten metal to explore the passage of time, personal memory, and energies that cannot be directly seen.

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Additional works are presented by three artists active in Beppu: Akira Himeno, Kenta Hisakado, and Masahiro Ono. Their presentation was curated by Get in touch, a Japanese nonprofit organization.

The combination of local craftsmanship and works by artists with distinct creative practices reflects the cultural diversity of Beppu.

What connects the Ginza and Beppu locations is the opportunity to encounter works by artists from different backgrounds and with different approaches to expression in an everyday setting.

Visitors can engage with these works while enjoying coffee or tea, without needing to plan a separate visit to a museum or gallery. Such environments create new opportunities for art to become part of daily life.

Encountering Art Beyond the Museum

Although all eight locations share the Starbucks name, each approaches art in a different way.

In Yanaka and Kyoto, galleries create opportunities for artists to present their work. In Kanazawa, Fukui, and Nagano, art is closely connected to local materials, craftsmanship, and architecture. In Hokkaido, baseball culture finds expression through a mural, while in Ginza and Beppu, works by artists with different creative perspectives become part of the everyday environment.

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Together, these examples suggest that art can play a role beyond decorating a commercial space. It can communicate local culture and create connections between artists and the people who encounter their work.

A visit to a museum or gallery offers a dedicated opportunity to spend time with art. In a café, the encounter may happen unexpectedly.

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A work glimpsed while enjoying a familiar drink might spark an interest in an artist or a local tradition previously unknown to the visitor.

Some days, we seek out art deliberately. On others, we discover it simply by stopping for coffee.

Across these Starbucks locations in Japan, art becomes part of the fabric of everyday life, reminding us how creative expression can inhabit even the most familiar spaces.