Artist’s rendering of the completed joint Starbucks and Kirishima Shuzo store
16:01 JST, July 23, 2024
Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. and Miyazaki-based shochu brewer Kirishima Shuzo Co., known for its shochu “Kurokirishima,” are opening their first joint store in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, according to an announcement made Monday.
Construction on the building, scheduled to open this fall, is expected to begin in spring 2026 and will include a Starbucks coffee area and a space selling Kirishima Shuzo products.
The 700-square-meter, single-story building will be built on a 4,700-square-meter site next to Kirishima Shuzo’s main factory. The building will feature a botanical garden, which can be viewed from the store through a glass window.
Starbucks sells alcoholic beverages in some of its stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area and elsewhere, but the new store will not offer them. The brewery will consider the product line in the future.
The relationship between the two companies began in 2017 when Starbucks employees visited Kirishima Shuzo as part of their training, and decided to collaborate, with “community” and “environment” as the themes of their efforts. The new store will be powered by renewable energy from the scraps of shochu produced at the Kirishima Shuzo factory.
