Starbucks Kobe mug: Discovery Series
A Starbucks Japan Kobe mug whose wraparound drawing shows the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Kobe Port Tower, a Western-style house like Kitano's ijinkan with a café table on its porch, a jazz band, a samba dancer, a wild boar, a sizzling steak, two orcas, bread and a hidden paper cup.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Kobe, Japan
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- July 2026 (Japan)Starbucks Japan's Discovery Series went on sale in Japan on 22 July 2026, with online pre-sale from 21 July, per Impress Gourmet Watch's launch report; Rurubu&more lists Kobe among the 19 areas with their own design
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The morning an earthquake lengthened the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
At 5:46 on the morning of 17 January 1995, an earthquake struck under the Akashi Strait, the channel between Kobe and Awaji Island [13][15]. It killed 6,434 people [14]. Out in the strait stood the two finished towers of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, and the main cables had just been strung between them [13]. No deck hung there yet, which the bridge's own engineers later called fortunate [13]. Surveys after the quake found that all four foundations had moved with the ground [13]. The central span, planned at 1,990 metres, was now 0.8 m longer [13][16]. The steel deck had not yet been fabricated, so its length could still be changed [15]. Two panels at the middle of the span were each made 40 cm longer [13]. The bridge opened in 1998, and its operator gives the main span as 1,991 m [15][16]. The long bridge behind the word KOBE (3) is 80 centimetres longer because of that morning.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1KOBE
The word KOBE in light blue capitals on a dark green rounded shape in the middle of the Front, above the pink house. It is the only place name printed on the mug. Starbucks Japan sells regional designs for 19 areas, and Kobe is one of them.[2]
- 2Jazz band that may stand for Kobe's jazz tradition
A woman in a purple dress plays a trumpet under a mirror ball, with a drum kit and cymbal behind her, and a double bass player in a blue hat stands to her left; the bass player also appears at the right edge of the Side photo. Kobe is regarded as the place where jazz started in Japan and holds the Kobe Jazz Street festival, so the band may refer to that, but the drawing does not show a named club or event. The mug doesn't name it.[6]
- 3Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
A long suspension bridge with two tall dark lattice towers, pink cables and a light blue deck, crossing water behind the word KOBE toward a purple shore. The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge carries the expressway from Kobe to Awaji Island on two towers and was the world's longest suspension span when it opened. The mug doesn't name it.[3]
- 4Two-storey Western-style house that looks like a Kitano ijinkan
A pink two-storey house with blue shutters, a glassed-in upper balcony and a porch where two people sit at a small table with cups, and a small blue-roofed booth in front of it on a paved path. It looks like one of the 19th-century Western-style residences (ijinkan) in Kitano. The café scene suggests it may be meant as the Starbucks Kobe Kitano Ijinkan store, which occupies a two-storey wooden Western-style house built in 1907, but that building is described as white and green, while the drawing is pink with blue shutters, so this is only a possibility. The mug doesn't name it.[5][12]
- 5Swirl bread loaves that may refer to Kobe's bakeries
Two pink loaves with grey swirls on the cut faces, drawn between the word KOBE and the lattice tower. Bread is one of the industries Kobe is known for, and the loaves may stand for that. The mug doesn't name a bakery or a kind of bread.[7]
- 6Kobe Port Tower
A tall pink and purple lattice tower, narrow at the waist and wider at top and bottom, with an observation level near the top, standing right beside the handle. Kobe Port Tower is a pipe-lattice tower shaped like a tsuzumi, a Japanese hand drum, which fits the narrow waist in the drawing. The drawing is pink, where the real tower is red. Just left of the top of the tower, where the bridge deck ends, stands a dark blue block-shaped building that we cannot identify. The mug doesn't name it.[4]
- 7Starbucks paper cup hidden in an anchor chain
A blue ship's anchor with a heavy chain sits at the lower right of the Front, and a small white cup with a green circle hangs in the chain. Press reports of Starbucks Japan's launch (Impress Gourmet Watch and Rurubu&more) say every area design in this line hides a paper cup somewhere; that this cup in the anchor chain is the Kobe one rests on the photo.[1][2]
- 8Samba dancer that may refer to the Kobe Matsuri samba parade Side view
A dancer in a feathered headdress, blue feather wings, a short fringed skirt and tall boots, one knee raised, at the left of the Side photo; she also appears at the right of the Back photo. The Kobe Matsuri festival includes a Samba Street where samba dancers parade in costume, and the dancer may refer to it. The mug doesn't name it.[8]
- 9Wild boar and piglet Side view
A dark blue wild boar walking right, with a small pink striped piglet behind it, below the hillside houses. Wild boars are often met on Mount Rokko above Kobe, and Kobe was the first city in Japan to ban feeding them. The mug doesn't name it.[9]
- 10Hillside houses along a steep lane Side view
A tight cluster of pink, purple and teal houses and shops climbing on both sides of a narrow lane with dashed markings, with utility poles and pink clouds above. It does not match one named street that we can confirm.
- 11Sliced steak on a sizzling iron plate that may be Kobe beef Side view
Strips of dark meat on an oval iron plate set in a wooden board, with garnish on top; the edge of the same plate shows at the far left of the Front photo. Kobe beef is served as steak and teppanyaki, and the dish may stand for it, but the mug doesn't name it.[10]
- 12Two orcas that may refer to Kobe Suma Sea World Back view
A large and a small orca, blue with pink patches, leaping among bubbles with a small fish above them. Kobe Suma Sea World keeps orcas, and the pair may refer to it, but no building or pool is drawn. The mug doesn't name it.[11]
- 13Two baguettes that may refer to Kobe's bakeries Back view
Two long pink baguettes with purple slashes, leaning side by side above and to the left of the setting sun. Like the swirl loaves on the Front, they may stand for Kobe's bread industry. The mug doesn't name it.[7]
- 14Hiker with a walking pole on a rock Back view
A small purple figure in a hat holding a tall walking pole, standing on a pink rock beside the handle. The drawing gives no clue to which mountain or trail is meant.
- 15Dark blue rocks over a sea at sunset Back view
A mass of dark blue rocks in the foreground, with a light blue sea behind it, a row of small white buildings along the far shore and a pink setting sun. It does not match one named viewpoint that we can confirm.
- 16STARBUCKS Back view
The word STARBUCKS printed vertically in dark grey capitals next to the handle, at the left of the Back photo.
The photos do not show the bottom of the mug or any base markings. The handle is on the right in the Front photo and on the left in the Back photo, so the narrow strip under the handle, between the lattice tower and the vertical STARBUCKS wordmark, is not in any photo.
Collector notes
- The catalog also lists a Been There Series Kobe mug (been-there-kobe). This Discovery Series design is the one with KOBE in light blue capitals on a dark green shape, a blue interior and a pink lattice tower right beside the handle.
- Press reports of Starbucks Japan's launch say every area design in this line hides a paper cup somewhere. On this mug it is the small white cup with a green circle caught in the anchor chain just left of the handle on the Front.
- Only the word KOBE and the STARBUCKS wordmark are printed on the mug, so the names given here for the bridge, the tower, the house and the food come from matching the drawing to sources, not from text on the mug.
Before you buy
The photos show a blue interior but not the base, so ask the seller for a picture of the bottom. Starbucks also made a Been There Series Kobe mug; this Discovery Series design is the one with KOBE in light blue capitals on a dark green shape and a pink lattice tower right beside the handle.
Other Kobe mugs
About the Discovery Series
Sources
- スターバックス、地域限定アイテム「Discovery Series」登場 (Impress Gourmet Watch)
- スタバの地域限定グッズ「Discovery Series」 (rurubu&more)
- Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (Wikipedia)
- Kobe Port Tower (Wikipedia)
- Kobe (Wikipedia)
- 神戸ジャズストリート (Wikipedia, Japanese)
- 神戸市 (Wikipedia, Japanese)
- 神戸まつり (Wikipedia, Japanese)
- イノシシ (Wikipedia, Japanese)
- Kobe beef (Wikipedia)
- Kobe Suma Sea World (Wikipedia)
- Starbucks Coffee Kobe Kitano Ijinkan Store (GOOD LUCK TRIP)
- Okuda, Fukunaga and Endo (Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Co.), Seismic design and seismic performance retrofit study for the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Bridge Structures, 2009
- Japan Meteorological Agency: 1995 Southern Hyogo Prefecture earthquake overview (Japanese)
- Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway: Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge (Bridge World)
- Structurae: Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
