People in Japan love Starbucks coffee and their cute, branded drinking tumblers. In big cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka you can even buy limited edition tumblers with different local designs. The regional travelling cups are sold at a number of stores though, so they’re actually not that difficult to come across. For die-hard fans looking to get their hands on the Holy Grail of Starbucks drinking vessels, you’d be better off heading to a store at Haneda airport, the one place in the world that sells this very exclusive tumbler.

Called the Starbucks Haneda Airport tumbler, you can buy one for 1,400 yen (US$13.60). You can look all over the world for these but you won’t find them anywhere but here.

On the tumbler, you can see the scene at Haneda airport: clear skies, planes, a runway and Tokyo Bay. While the illustration is definitely cute as it is, you have to use the tumbler to discover its hidden secret. When you pour coffee into one of these, the design transforms, giving you a view of the night sky. Any dark coloured liquid will do the trick, as the clear background will become filled with darkness. It’s a great surprise for people not expecting it!

There’s also another semi-limited edition tumbler known as the “airport special edition”; a type you can only buy at airports in Japan.

On these, you can see a plane taking off from Japan, leaving the country with three symbols: Mt Fuji, Tokyo Tower and the Golden Pavilion.

We’ve been told that the Haneda Airport tumblers do sell out from time to time, so if you can’t leave the country without one, it’s best to give them a call to check they’re in stock before you go!

For those of you living outside Japan and hoping to grab one of these unique tumblers upon your arrival or journey back home, be warned: most international flights to and from Japan actually use the much larger Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, just east of Tokyo. Haneda Aiport does handle a handful of international flights each day, but unless you’re entering or leaving the country via Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong or Taipei you might struggle to find a flight that will land you close enough to these special cups to grab one for yourself. But then they wouldn’t be worth much if they were easy to find, would they?

Happy hunting!

[ Read in Japanese ]