Starbucks opened its first store outside North America in 1996. The store opened in Tokyo’s Ginza district, Japan, marking the company’s first step into an overseas market beyond the United States and Canada.
The Ginza store opened on August 2, 1996, and became the first Starbucks location in Japan. Its launch was a major milestone because Starbucks was testing whether its American coffeehouse model could succeed in a country with a long-established café and coffee culture. The company later expanded into other international markets, including Europe in 1998 and China in 1999.
Some accounts describe the opening as occurring in July 1996, while Starbucks Japan identifies the precise opening date as August 2. That date difference does not change the quiz answer: the year was 1996. The first Japanese store also helped establish Starbucks’ international “third place” concept, positioning cafés as social spaces between home and work.