How long does it take to order at all SEVEN Starbucks stores at this huge shopping mall in Japan?

One drink per location, for an epic adventure.

When it comes to shopping malls in Japan, it’s hard to beat Aeon Lake Town in terms of size, as it contains more than 700 shops and restaurants in three large complexes that cover an expanse of 224,000 square metres (2.4 million square feet).

Located in Koshigaya, in Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Saitama, this is a mall that you can spend an entire day in without getting to see everything it has to offer, which got us to thinking — how long would it take for us to visit all of the mall’s Starbucks branches?

▼ The mall has a total of seven branches, pictured below.

As you can see, they’re pretty spread out, so this wasn’t going to be an easy task, but it was a challenge we were keen to complete. We began our journey at the first branch, located at the top of the escalator, immediately after exiting the station.

▼ The clock starts here at 3:22 p.m.

With this being a Sunday, the complex was quite busy, so we started the clock when we joined the queue, patiently waiting in line until it was our turn to order.

Considering we had a lot of drinking ahead of us, our order here was for a small-sized iced decaf Americano.

It took a while for the coffee to be made, but once we had it, it was gone in seconds and it was time to head off to the next location.

The second branch was, thankfully, surprisingly close by, on the first floor of the building next door. However, it would take us a while to order here as the line stretched out into the mall.

While we waited, we mused on how popular the chain must be, with long lines at two branches so close to each other, and when it came time to order, we got the same iced decaf Americano that we ordered at the previous store.

▼ Again, gone in seconds and time to move on to the next location.

By this stage, 30 minutes had already elapsed on the timer, which meant our initial estimate of completing the course in about an hour was already well off the mark.

Arriving at the third location, this one wasn’t too far away either, and it was a Teavana outlet that specialises in tea-based drinks.

Again, there was a line and some waiting involved, and when we got to the counter, what did we order?

You guessed it — another small-sized iced decaf Americano. We figured it was best to keep the drinks the same at each location, for the sake of uniformity.

The next store was located in the outlet area, so we passed through a passageway to get there.

This branch took a while to get to, but it turned out to be a lovely one, with outdoor seating. However, that meant it was quite popular, so we had to join another queue for the registers yet again.

▼ Another Starbucks, another Americano.

▼ This time we finished the drink in about 30 seconds, proving we were improving our drinking skills as we went.

Finally, we were past the halfway mark, and now it was time to move to the third complex, where the final three stores were located.

The next branch also had a lovely outdoor setting, and out of all the stores it was the one most covered in leafy green plants.

Despite the tranquil setting, it turned out to be the least busy store, with only about five people in line, so we didn’t have to wait long to order and down our Americano.

For the penultimate branch, we headed back inside the building, where we were greeted by another long line of customers.

By this stage, we were getting a little tired of drinking the same thing over and over again, but it was thirsty work so we were grateful for the liquid refreshment.

At the final store, we resisted the urge to descend to our knees in front of it and yell out a hoot in triumph.

▼ It was a beautiful-looking store, but sadly it’ll soon be closing temporarily for renovations.

▼ One final cheers to the final location!

Upon throwing the empty cup into the trash, it was now time to check the results.

According to the data on this final photo, the time was…5:13 p.m!

That meant this epic journey of ordering and drinking coffee at all seven Starbucks locations took us 111 minutes, or just shy of two hours. Surprisingly, we also noticed that the time between ordering at one store and ordering at the next took about 15 minutes each time. Whether or not this was intentionally thought-out by the chain when setting up their locations within the mall, it’s actually a clever configuration, as you’re never too far away from a Starbucks, where you can re-energise between shopping at your favourite stores.

It was an enjoyable adventure, and one we wouldn’t mind trying again next time we visit LakeTown…although then we’ll be ordering something other than an iced Americano.

Photos © SoraNews24
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