Starbucks Tokyo mug: Discovery Series
Tokyo in pink capitals on a green disc, with Asakusa's Kaminarimon gate and its red lantern, the Hachiko dog statue, Tokyo Skytree, a skewer of dango, two runners, a sightseeing boat and food bowls.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Tokyo, Japan
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- July 2026 (Japan)Starbucks Japan's Discovery Series went on sale in Japan on 22 July 2026, per Impress Gourmet Watch's launch report
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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Hachiko never walked his master to Shibuya Station
In 1924 Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University's Faculty of Agriculture, was given a puppy from Odate and named him Hachi [10]. Ueno walked to the Komaba campus, about ten minutes from home, and the dog saw him off and waited for him at the faculty's main gate [9]. It was not the station. In 1925 Ueno died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage [10]. After that Hachi began waiting at Shibuya Station, and a 1932 newspaper article made him famous [10]. A 1934 school textbook told children the dog walked his master to the station every morning [9]. According to the University of Tokyo, that version merged two stories: the gate before Ueno's death and the station after it [9]. Hachi attended the unveiling of his own statue outside the station that year [10]. He was found dead on the station's south side before dawn on 8 March 1935 [9]. The statue was given up for wartime metal in 1944, and a second went up in August 1948 [10]. The seated dog on its plinth on the Tokyo mug (3) matches that second statue.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1TOKYO
The word TOKYO in pink capital letters sits on a dark green disc in the middle of the front. It is the only place name we can read in these photos.
- 2Kaminarimon gate, Senso-ji, Asakusa
A red gate with a blue tiled roof, a large red lantern hanging in the centre opening and a guardian figure in a niche on each side. That combination matches the Kaminarimon, the outer gate of Senso-ji temple in Asakusa, whose giant red lantern hangs under the centre and whose front niches hold the gods Fujin and Raijin. The figures are too small in this photo to tell apart. The mug doesn't name it.[1]
- 3Hachiko statue, Shibuya
A pale grey seated dog on a tall stone plinth, left of the green disc. It matches the bronze statue of the Akita dog Hachiko, a seated dog on a stone plinth outside Shibuya Station. The colours on the mug are stylised, not bronze. The mug doesn't name it.[2]
- 4Two runners, possibly the Tokyo Marathon
A man in a pink cap and top and a woman in a pink vest run side by side above the green disc. They may stand for the Tokyo Marathon, but no bib, banner or text is readable, so that is a guess. The mug doesn't name it.
- 5Road through blue cone-shaped trees
Tall blue cone-shaped trees line a grey road that runs into the distance, with a small round sign and a strip of pink at the trees' foot. The drawing is too small and stylised to tie to one avenue or park. The mug doesn't name it.
- 6Skewer of dango
Four round pink balls on a single stick, top right of the green disc. That is the shape of kushi-dango, the Japanese rice dumplings served three to five on a skewer. The mug doesn't name it.[4]
- 7Pink and blue round sweets
Two soft round shapes, one pink and one blue, sit beside the dango on a white base. They could be a sweet or a piece of fabric; at this photo size it cannot be told. The mug doesn't name it.
- 8Steep-gabled building with a cross-shaped finial
A tall building seen from the corner, with a steep white-and-red gable, a small cross-shaped finial on the peak and a blue arched doorway. The photo is too small to read its details, so it is not identified here. The mug doesn't name it.
- 9Red-and-blue train among pink trees
A short red-and-blue rail car runs past pink-red trees at the right edge of the front, close to the handle. Its number and line name, if any, are too small to read, so the line is not named here. The mug doesn't name it.
- 10Lattice tower at the left edge, probably Tokyo Tower
Only a thin slice of a lattice tower shows at the front's far left edge, with splayed legs at the base, drawn in pale blue, with a red sun beside it. The splayed lattice legs look like Tokyo Tower, a lattice tower modelled on the Eiffel Tower, but most of it is out of frame. The mug doesn't name it.[6]
- 11STARBUCKS Back view
The word STARBUCKS in small black capitals runs vertically beside the handle on the back.
- 12Roofed sightseeing boat, possibly a yakatabune Back view
A long low boat with a pointed bow and a roofed cabin with a row of red windows floats on blue wave lines, under two red clouds and at least four grey V-shaped birds. It resembles a yakatabune, the roofed pleasure boats that carry sightseers on Tokyo's rivers and bay, though a water bus would also fit. The mug doesn't name it.[7]
- 13Bowl on a red tray with a blue spoon Back view
A grey bowl filled with white food topped with red and blue pieces sits on a red tray with a long blue spoon and a small rolled item. The dish cannot be identified at this photo size. The mug doesn't name it.
- 14Tokyo Skytree Back view
A very tall, slim red tower with a blue upper section, two observation rings and a long spire, with two small walking figures at its foot. The two observation levels near the top and the needle spire match Tokyo Skytree in Sumida, which has observatories at 350 m and 450 m. The mug doesn't name it.[3]
- 15Bowl of ingredients with a small spatula, possibly monjayaki Back view
A dark bowl heaped with white, red and blue food, with a small red flat spatula beside it. The small spatula suggests monjayaki, the Tokyo griddle dish eaten with a little spatula, but the bowl alone could be another dish. The mug doesn't name it.[5]
- 16Two-storey shopfront, possibly a Starbucks store Back view
A red-and-blue two-storey shop building with signboards across its front and a plain pale awning, at the back's right edge. The lettering is too small to read in our photo, but the launch press photo of this mug shows the signs read STARBUCKS COFFEE. Starbucks Japan says every area design hides a Starbucks paper-cup picture somewhere, and this store may be where the Tokyo design hides it. The mug doesn't name the street.[8]
The photos do not show the inside below the rim, the base or any bottom stamp. A wide strip of the design on the side opposite the handle is not shown in our photos at all; the launch press photo shows that side. Both photos are only about 410 px wide, so small lettering on the shopfront, the train and the back-view food items cannot be read.
Collector notes
- Starbucks has used the Tokyo name in more than one mug series, so check the design rather than the city name: this one prints TOKYO in pink capitals on a green disc, with the red Kaminarimon gate and lantern directly below it.
- Both photos are only about 410 px wide. The guardian figures in the gate, the shop signs, the train's markings and the food on the back are hard to read; one bowl on the back is only tentatively identified.
- The side opposite the handle is not shown in our photos: the front ends at its left edge with a sliver of a lattice tower and the back ends at its right edge with a shopfront. Starbucks Japan names the packed commuter train as the Tokyo motif of this design, and the launch press photo shows that train on the side our photos miss (Impress Gourmet Watch launch report). The base is not photographed either.
Before you buy
Starbucks has put Tokyo on more than one mug series, so check the design rather than the name: this one prints TOKYO in pink capitals on a green disc, with a red temple gate and lantern below it. Our photos do not show the inside, the base or the side opposite the handle, where the launch press photo shows a packed commuter train.
Other Tokyo mugs
About the Discovery Series
Sources
- Kaminarimon (Wikipedia)
- Hachikō (Wikipedia)
- Tokyo Skytree (Wikipedia)
- Dango (Wikipedia)
- Monjayaki (Wikipedia)
- Tokyo Tower (Wikipedia)
- Yakatabune (Wikipedia)
- Starbucks Japan Discovery Series launch report (Impress Gourmet Watch, in Japanese, 17 July 2026)
- Hachiko and UTokyo (part 2): The interwoven story of a dog, the University and various people (University of Tokyo, 2024)
- History of Loyal Dog Hachi (HACHI100 Project, Odate City Tourism Division)
