There’s no tram stop near Kansui Park (富岩運河環水公園). So getting from Kenchō-mae (県庁前) to Kansui Park by public transport wasn’t a convenient route. There was a way to go to the city hall and catch a bus, but it was raining and my body was a bit worn out.
So I took a taxi. When I take taxis in Japan, I usually end up using an app called GO!, but even that only works in cities of a certain size. Once you’re in a smaller town or out toward the outskirts, the dispatch doesn’t go through so well. Luckily, in Toyama a car came right away.
Anyway, about ten minutes by taxi and I arrived at Starbucks Kansui Park (スターバックス コーヒー 富山環水公園店). The fare was around 1,500 yen.
Since I’d come to a coffee shop, I order a coffee. They had something called Sweet Milk Coffee, which I’d never seen in Korea, so I ordered it. I wanted something warm, but by mistake I ordered the cold one.
I sat down and rested a while, looking out the window at the lake. Even with an umbrella, walking around the rainy streets had left me pretty tired.
Honestly, the view from inside was quite nice, but not something you’d call the best in the world.
Apparently Starbucks runs something internal called the Store Design Awards. It’s said to be like an in-house architecture and interior design competition that the U.S. headquarters holds for the tens of thousands of stores around the world.
I don’t know whether it’s held every year or irregularly. Either way, since it’s an internal event, the information apparently isn’t made public.
In 2008, the Starbucks in Toyama’s Kansui Park won the top prize at this award, and as the news got out, this place — Starbucks Kansui Park — earned the nickname of the most beautiful Starbucks in the world. And that reputation has carried on to this day.
A place that became known in a similar way is the Starbucks at Dazaifu Tenmangu Omotesando in Fukuoka. Designed by Kengo Kuma, it won the same award in 2011, and even took a GD Award.
How trustworthy the nickname “the most beautiful Starbucks in the world” really is, whether it’s truly “the world’s best,” who on earth decided that — plenty of questions come up here, but I’ll set them aside for now.
Because it’s clearly a store with a wonderful view, one that holds the whole rainy night scenery of Kansui Park.
There’s only this one coffee shop around Kansui Park. Except for a very expensive-looking French restaurant across Tenmon Bridge (天門橋), it’s no exaggeration to say this store has the park’s scenery all to itself.
So, to take some proper photos, I made one big loop around Kansui Park. With an umbrella, of course. And to get the shots, I had no choice but to get a little rained on.
After that big loop around the park, I got hungry. Kansui Park’s scenery is nice, but now it’s time for dinner.
Looking at the map, Toyama Station isn’t that far. So, partly to take in Toyama’s night views, I decided to walk to the station.
I’ll show you a bit more of Toyama’s rainy night views in another post.
Leave a Reply