Starbucks Japan launches payment pens
“Starbucks Touch: The Pen,” for that is its name, contains an NFC reader that’s linked to a digital wallet. It works with FeliCa technology, which is ubiquitous in Japan and powers Starbucks’ popular domestic card system. Existing Touch devices include The Drip (a key fob), The Cup (a phone case), and The Hug (a keyring handbag).
Starbucks is putting pen on sale in its online store next Wednesday. There are three colors — black, silver, and white — and they each cost 4,000 yen (~$37), including 1,000 yen pre-loaded.
Simply walk into a Starbucks in Japan, hold the pen over the contactless payment terminal, and the required amount of credit is taken from your Starbucks account for your coffee order.
Since opening its first outlet in Ginza more than two decades ago in 1996, the Seattle-born brand now has a whopping 1,628 stores (and counting) across the country.
For the past few years, its fandom has reached a fever pitch. In 2015, the opening of Starbucks’ first outpost in Tottori, Japan’s least populated prefecture, attracted a thousand fans to line up from the early morning hours so that they could be the first to enter the new store. Prior to the opening of the world’s largest Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Meguro in 2019, the coffee giant came up with a lottery system to give winners access tickets based on specific time slots to visit the outlet.
Starbucks’ skyrocketing popularity in Japan is partly fueled by its continuous offering of seasonal, limited-time beverages and merchandise, most of which are exclusive to the country. Moreover, the coffee chain has found a way to adapt to local culture, creating Insta-worthy, one-of-a-kind spaces at inspiring locations while featuring cutting-edge architecture and design. In fact, these outlets are so innovative that you wouldn’t have thought it was a Starbucks until you notice the familiar green mermaid logo. So here are the most stunning Starbucks in the country, from one that’s set in a heritage house in Kyoto to the Kawagoe outlet that features a zen garden.
