Japanese customer service turns a disappointing experience into a heartwarming memory. 

When people hear the words “Starbucks breakfast” in Japan, they usually think of the chain’s “Good Start Morning” offer, which gives you a 40-yen (US$0.25) discount on the in-store price when you buy a qualifying drink and food item together. You can take advantage of the deal until 11 in the morning at most stores, but diehard fans of the chain know there’s a better deal hiding out at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward.

Here, you’ll find a luxurious breakfast that’s been described by diners as “hotel-quality”, but the only problem is it’s so popular it often sells out. That’s what happened when we stopped by to try it, but rather than leave disappointed, we ended up leaving with a full stomach and a warm heart, thanks to the help of staff who went above and beyond with their customer service to make our experience a great one.

▼ Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo

The official name of the popular breakfast is “Roastery Breakfast Mattina“, and it’s sold by Princi, the Italian bakery on the first floor. While it’s said to be incredibly delicious, it’s also slightly pricey, at 2,250 yen per set, and can only be ordered dine-in until 11:00 a.m. each day.

▼ Drinks are sold separately, so if you want to add coffee to your breakfast, you should be prepared to spend at least 3,000 yen.

Despite the price, the breakfast is incredibly popular – so much so that when we visited at 10:30am, staff told us that they’d just sold out, and when we returned the next day just after 9 a.m. staff told us they sold out at 8 a.m.

Fearing we may never get to eat breakfast, we asked staff if there was any type of workaround they might recommend. We told them we’d be happy to purchase the bread and ham from the breakfast set on their own if it were possible, and to our surprise, the staff member we spoke to said, “You can buy the bread individually. We also offer ham in sandwiches and such, but…please wait a moment.” They then started communicating with someone on their intercom system.

Eagerly waiting to find out what was about to happen, the employee then said, “Well, how about this? We have a menu item that we’d like to recommend, but please wait a moment while we check if it’s still available.”

Crossing our fingers for the best result, we waited with bated breath until the staff member turned and said, “It seems it’s still available, so I’ll guide you to the place where it’s being served.”

▼ They then led us to the Princi bakery, where they introduced us to a store-exclusive menu item called “Customize Bread”.

As the name suggests, this customisable bread menu allows for a wide range of customisation. You can choose your favourite bread, cheese, ham, and, if desired, olive oil, salt, and black pepper, to create your own unique set.

The price varies depending on what you add – cheese add-ons cost an extra 280 yen, while the butter, dip and cream options are less expensive.

You get to choose your bread yourself, but if you’re unsure about anything, you can simply tell staff your preferences for hard or soft textures and they’ll choose something that suits your taste. Staff were incredibly helpful, and when we asked if it might be okay to order pretty much all the toppings, they told us not to worry as customers often add all of them.

▼ So we ended up ordering the lot, except for the Hazelnut Cream, which we worried might be too sweet for our liking.

It was a veritable feast, and so good looking it resembled a breakfast you’d get at a fancy hotel.

▼ Olive oil, Maldon sea salt, and black pepper are free with every order.

We had no idea a breakfast like this was possible at Starbucks, and we were particularly impressed with the range of hams.

▼ We chose prosciutto crudo, prosciutto cotto, pistachio mortadella, and speck.

Sure, it may not be as colourful as the original breakfast set, but in every other respect it seemed overwhelmingly superior. Not only did it look like a high-class hotel breakfast, we also enjoyed being able to mix and match the bread with toppings to our liking.

As previously mentioned, the price of the set varies depending on what you add, and because we went all out with the add-ons, our total came to 2,934 yen, which was more than the sold-out breakfast.

Still, it was an experience we were happy to pay for, because not only did we get to discover a new way to eat breakfast at Starbucks, we got to experience the warmth of Japanese customer service as well. In fact, it was the customer service that left a lasting impression on us, as staff went out of their way to ensure we left happy, and never applied any pressure during our order, so we were able to make our choices calmly and with ease.

It added the pep in our step we needed to start the day, and now we know Starbucks is just as good a place to go for breakfast as it is for afternoon tea.

Cafe information
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo / スターバックス リザーブ ロースタリー東京
Address: Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku, Aobadai 2-19-23
東京都目黒区青葉台2丁目19-23
Open 7 a.m.-11 p.m.
Website

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TOKYO, May 18 — Two American nationals were arrested in Japan after a stunt in which one entered the monkey enclosure at a zoo where a baby macaque named Punch became a global internet sensation this year, police said Monday.

One of the men, who identified himself as a 24-year-old college student, was arrested Sunday after climbing over a fence and dropping into a dry moat surrounding the monkey exhibit at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo.

The other man, who was filming the act, identified himself as a 27-year-old singer.

Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.

The men did not come close to the animals, and were quickly apprehended by zoo officials, said an official at Ichikawa Police who spoke with AFP on a traditional condition of anonymity.

The two men face charges of forcible obstruction of business, which they refute, the police official said.

The duo did not have formal identifications with them and initially tried to lie to police about their names, he added.

The arrests follow a massive surge in domestic and international visitors to the zoo, driven by Punch’s viral fame.

The baby monkey became an internet star this year after the zoo posted photos of Punch clutching an IKEA plush orangutan for comfort after being rejected by his mother.

Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop earlier this year.

Punch’s predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch.

An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, but some residents have become fed up with unruly behaviour.

Last year, a Ukrainian YouTuber with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after livestreaming himself trespassing in a house in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone.

And a US livestreamer known as Johnny Somali was arrested in 2023 for allegedly trespassing onto a construction site. — AFP 

Japanese police reportedly arrested an American crypto bro who illegally entered Punch the monkey's zoo enclosure.

The man's friend, who was filming it, was arrested too. He told police: “I did not enter the fenced area, so this arrest is not justified”pic.twitter.com/I7BIeYQbEI https://t.co/Lp24zHoZCi

— Jeffrey J. Hall(@mrjeffu) May 18, 2026

TOKYO, May 17 — “Master, mistress — welcome home!” exclaims the smiling young woman in a French maid’s costume, as customers pass through the looking glass into a unique Japanese world with oodles of quirkiness, cuteness and cake.

These “maid cafes” — inspired by the traditional maid outfit that has long been a motif in Japanese pop culture — have evolved from niche subculture hangouts 20 years ago into a mainstream attraction for people of all ages and genders.

And staff working there insist that the experience is not in any way designed to titillate, saying it is meant to be a wholly innocent family-friendly experience.

“I’ve been fighting against prejudice for 22 years,” Hitomi, a “maid” in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighbourhood where the cafes started, told AFP.

“Little remarks can be hurtful... In those moments, I tell myself that what we do isn’t yet sufficiently understood.”

Waitresses, wearing a short dress, petticoat, pinafore and hair accessory, serve brightly coloured drinks or twee delights like a dish called “Wan Wan! Puppy Curry Rice” (made with beef) or “Cutie Toy Poodle Cake”.

But the experience is more about the interaction with customers, with the maids clasping their hands together in heart shapes, chanting “magic spells” over the food, singing songs or playing games.

“We serve food and drinks, but to me, it is more like a theme park than a cafe,” said Hitomi.

In this fairytale world, “the waitresses aren’t just ‘girls,’ but rather slightly fantastical characters who are eternally 17 years old”, the mother-of-two told AFP, preferring not to give her real age.

At-Home Cafe, which employs 650 maids across 13 locations, says it has strict rules to protect staff and govern interactions with patrons. This includes no touching and prohibiting the maids from handing out flyers on the street.

French tourist Taha Hsine, 26, visiting a cafe with his girlfriend, admitted that he had half-expected to see “sweaty guys coming in to see their favourite maid”.

He told AFP at first it was “difficult to be at ease. In France, we’re not used to this kind of thing”.

“But otherwise, the experience itself, even the way the meals are prepared, I find it really stylish.”

“I was expecting a mostly male audience, but there are a lot of foreigners and women,” agreed Japanese customer Hazuki, 19, visiting with her boyfriend “out of curiosity”.

Others queueing to enter were an excited seven-year-old girl from South Korea on her third visit with her mother and grandmother.

Otaku

The trend emerged in the early 2000s in Akihabara, renowned at the time as the birthplace of “otaku”, sometimes translated as “geek”, culture.

This term, then largely pejorative, usually described men with an intense passion for manga and anime.

“When I first became a maid, Akihabara was very much an ‘otaku’ district where a girl like me wasn’t exactly welcome,” Hitomi recalled.

“Over 90 per cent of the customers were men, they wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and they struggled to carry on a conversation.”

But the meteoric rise of all-girl pop group AKB48 — short for Akihabara — and TV series Densha Otoko (Train Man), a romantic comedy about a young “otaku”, helped soften the scene’s edges.

“A genuine ‘Akihabara boom’ then took place,” explains Ryo Hirose, a subculture specialist at the NLI Research Institute.

“Completely ordinary people began flocking there, and ‘otaku’ — along with their culture and even the maids themselves — were, in a sense, transformed into attractions.”

At-Home Cafe, one of the leading chains, says that women now make up 57 per cent of the customers registered on its app.

Some maids have become quasi-celebrities and media personalities, building their personal brand on social media and sometimes sought out by customers.

Many cafes have implemented a complex membership system, where frequent visits unlock privileges such as special menu items, the right to take a Polaroid photo with the maids, or discounted rates.

Grey zone

Researcher Hirose said that the interactions in maid cafes are sometimes built upon a “pseudo-romance” fantasised by some regular customers.

“Some may come to believe that the other person actually has feelings for them,” he said.

Over time other kinds of “concept” cafes have also emerged, featuring everything from ninjas to cross-dressing women and liveried butlers.

There are venues operating in “a kind of grey zone, with at times very borderline commercial practices. Under the guise of concept cafes, some in reality offer services that include sexual activities,” Hirose said.

“You can ask questions regarding stuff like hobbies, what they like (and) dislike,” said Michal Ondra, a 35-year-old Czech tourist who says he has spent nearly 500 hours at maid cafes.

“But you cannot ask things like ‘Where do you live?’ or ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’. Personal questions have to be very shallow,” Ondra told AFP. — AFP

TOKYO, May 13 — A Japanese company making ferocious-looking robot wolves is being swamped by orders after record numbers of fatal bear attacks on humans last year.

“Monster Wolf” is an animatoronic scarecrow with flashing red eyes that howls and growls menacingly to scare away wild animals.

Ohta Seiki, the Hokkaido-based firm that makes the devices, has already received around 50 orders this year, more than the usual volume for an entire year.

“We make them by hand. We cannot make them fast enough now. We are asking our customers to wait two to three months,” company president Yuji Ohta told AFP.

“Awareness of bear safety and measures against wildlife damage (on farm products) improved. There was also a growing recognition that our product is effective in dealing with bears,” Ohta said.

Orders come mostly from farmers, operators of golf courses and people working outside in rural areas such as in construction.

Bears killed 13 people across Japan in 2025-2026, more than twice the previous high.

More than 50,000 bear sightings were recorded nationwide, more than double the previous record set two years before, according to official data.

The animals were seen entering homes, roaming near schools and rampaging through supermarkets and hot spring resorts on an almost daily basis.

The number of bears captured and then culled nearly tripled from a year earlier to 14,601, also marking an all-time high.

Some northern regions also reported in April more than four times as many sightings as last year as the animals emerge from hibernation, local media said.

“Monster Wolf” features artificial fur draped over an assembled pipe frame, attached to speakers, topped with a menacing, open-mouthed face.

For prices starting from around US$4,000 (RM15,707) or higher, the system comes with a battery, solar panels, sensors, speakers and other apparatus.

It broadcasts more than 50 kinds of recorded sounds, including human voices and electronic noises, audible up to one kilometre away.

The device turns its head from side to side, flashes red LED eyes, while its tail is equipped with blue LEDs.

Ohta introduced the product in 2016 to prevent damage to agricultural products by deer, boars and bears, and it was initially derided as a gimmick.

The company is now upgrading the device by putting it on wheels to chase animals or patrol specific paths.

Ohta also plans to develop a hand-held version for hikers, anglers and schoolchildren, while also exploring artificial intelligence cameras for future models.

“We wanted to apply our manufacturing to do our part to deal with bears,” he said. — AFP

Leica is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, in style. Leica Camera Japan Co., Ltd. is releasing just 100 units of a special edition Leica M-A Hammertone analog rangefinder camera on April 25, available exclusively at its luxurious Ginza location.

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