You would not be wrong to say that Nishinasuno is off the beaten path. But do not ever underestimate American commerce, because the main drag has both a McDonald’s and a Starbucks. This drizzly Saturday afternoon we made a trip to the latter, a 45-minute walk into town from ARI.
Our objective was not coffee. Instead we were in pursuit of coffee mugs. We had a two-fold purpose.
Practically, we wanted our own mugs for morning (instant) coffee in our room. The ARI day starts with morning exercise at 6:30 (see the Radio Taiso post) but breakfast is not until 8:30, and that is long time after awakening to wait for a caffeine injection. And the single kettle of (instant) coffee at breakfast does not last long among the 60 or so people. So first thing each morning we go downstairs to the community kitchen and heat water in the electric kettle to make (instant) coffee in random mugs from the shelf. It does the job, barely.
But our primary purpose was, simply, collectibles. We collect Starbucks mugs. But not just any mugs. We collect mugs that commemorate the places we have traveled. Originally Starbucks called them City Mugs. Then they were the You Are There mugs. Now they are called the Been There Series. But whatever they are called, crucially, they are all the same size. Well, in the early days there was some wide variation until Starbucks settled on the current dimensions. So they stack well in the cupboard. And we have an entire cupboard. Maybe 50 in all, maybe more, we are not sure because our daughter absconded with some a few years ago. They come from Beijing to Berlin, Chicago to Santiago, Chile, and everywhere in between. When we are home we use these mugs daily and are reminded of our visits to those places.
Today we hit the jackpot. The Nishinasuno Starbucks had three different mugs – spring Japan, autumn Japan, and Tochigi. Tochigi prefecture is the Japanese “state” where we are living. Scott gasped when he saw the Tochigi mug. We got the last one on the shelf – either Tochigi mugs sell like hotcakes or they could not move the last one. Most likely the latter. We got the autumn version of the Japan mug because we will be here through the season.
But it gets better. While we were making our mug decision a preternaturally friendly staff person brought us two demitasse cups with samples of the seasonal Autumn Blend. Mind you, it had been 23 days since we had a decent cup of coffee, to be blunt about it.
It was magical. The autumnal flavor exploded in our mouths; the caffeine shot through our veins.
So we got two tall coffees and a pumpkin scone. The staff were excited and amazed that we were from the US (remember the beaten path, like the Shinkansen, bypasses Nishinasuno) and that we would be here for another two months. We sincerely promised to return. Later the manager introduced herself and welcomed us. The staff fussed over us when we tried to return our dish ware. And notice in the photo that the server had written on our hand wipes Have a nice day ❤️ and Thank you! 😊❤️
Best. Starbucks. Ever. 😊❤️
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