The line to get into the Starbucks at Ninenzaka in Kyoto looks less like a vacation and more like a rung of hell from Dante’s Inferno

35 comments

1. I don’t recall anyone having coffee in Dante’s Inferno

2. Dang, I wonder who has a longer line: Kyoto or the Original Store in Seattle?

3. Virtually no line when we went in November

4. I miss 2022 Kyoto

5. At least everyone is being fairly respectful and quiet.  I just took some friends to Kaiyukan in Osaka and literally had to chastise a Chinese woman and tell her to move away from the escalator she was blocking and stop screaming at her family down the hall.

6. Ha, when I went in 2018 there was no line at all. I didn’t go the last time I was there but it was during covid, so I’m sure it wasn’t crowded then either. This too shall pass and some other place will be “the spot” to go to instead of Japan and Kyoto

7. Why would someone go to a Starbucks when in Kyoto? Why wait in line for that? I must be too old to understand.

8. Lining up for shit coffee in a place with many far better coffee shops, i just don’t get it.

   Like going to NYC and lining up for McDonalds

9. Imagine lining up for burnt starbucks coffee on your trip to Japan when they are hundreds of local cafes with better coffee and snacks.

   It’s like lining up for an hour or two for McDonald’s when you could be eating literally anywhere else.

10. I went there during COVID it was empty.

11. Just go to %Arabica in Arashiyama if you want a coffee shop for instagram.

12. They had a “NO lining up/waiting outside” notice when we walked by in January on our way to visit 清水寺 apparently due to spoiling the scenery or getting in the way of passerbys….guess that rule is out the window now?!

13. I’d rather go to Komeda’s or Doutor than wait in a line like that.

14. No one needs coffee that bad.

15. All of this to drink mediocre coffee.

16. Yeah, it’s time to quit Starbucks I think.

17. This video was taken before it opened and this Starbucks has some old floor tiles etc, which is why you see many tourists in the line.

18. Lol you literally just copy-pasted Unseen Japan’s quote tweet on this. Good job, I guess.

19. Take your pix and move on. Kiyomizu Dera and thise shopping streets are impacted.

    I was in Arashiyama yesterday and it was busy.

20. I always find this comical when I pass by. There are so many great cafe’s nearby this area with excellent coffee, yet people line up for Starbucks.

21. I was here last week and it only has one small corner in the upstairs with tatami. This place is nothing special.

22. On my final day in Tokyo last May, I went to a small cafe and had a great time sitting at the bar and talking in Japanese/English with the barista who had come down from Hokkaido for the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Would take that over IG worthy Starbucks any day

23. I have a similar video from 2007, in Tokyo, near Shinjuku station, where people had lined up in a gigantic line. I was told that the tail end was at least a 2hour wait. What was the lineup for? They’d opened a brand new Krispy Kreme near the station…

24. I’m a guide and unless I must be in this area I avoid it like Corona… which ironically was the most peaceful time to walk through these neighborhoods 🤣

25. That video is really bizarre, because Ninenzaka is usually packed with tourists, but here it looks like it’s empty, except for the Starbucks line?!?

26. There’s worse places to line up for sure. I don’t really feel like I’m better than these people.

27. starbucks in kyoto is overrated

28. Whoa. So glad I went there during the pandemic when it was really quiet.

29. I don’t get this but to each their own. I would not wait in a line this long for a Starbucks of all things in Kyoto of all places in what limited time I have to travel and enjoy this country. I’ve been to the original Starbucks in Seattle and did wait in line once, but I don’t find anything attractive or special about this one in Kyoto 

30. I hate Starbucks so, so very much.

    I got given a voucher for it recently so I was like fine I’ll go. I already know their espresso coffee is fucking awful, so I thought I’d get some kind of frozen thing.

    I asked for something that wasn’t too sweet and ended up getting some kind of mocha frozen frappa thing. It had like congealed sugary icicles in the bottom, like it wasn’t even fully mixed. It tasted like plastic (and was still way too fucking sweet).

    The thing was worth like 700 yen. What the actual god given fuck? I’d be annoyed if I got that level of shit from a combini for 150 yen, let alone actually paying 700 for it at the most ubiquitous “”””coffee””””” chain in the world.

31. I can’t think of a more stupid thing to do

32. Can I just say as someone here, the only place I get coffee from in Japan is 7-11.

33. Go to Ichikawaya instead.

    • 15 minute walk from this hell hole of a Starbucks
    • Retrofitted inside of a 200 year old home
    • Coffee freshly roasted on-site
    • Great OG Kissaten style food menu
    • Highly grammable if that’s your thing
    • Usually no line unless you go at peak lunch hours

34. That’s rather disturbing considering I got this shot last year there.

    [Magical night](https://imgur.com/a/Rc5lJ5c)

35. Never got into High street coffee chains, or Coffee in General. I wouldn’t mind trying the Matcha drinks but the prices are terrible for the work required. Also with a Line that long. best to spend your time else where enjoying the local food.