Starbucks to open first sign language store in Japan

Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. said Wednesday it will open its first store in the country with sign language ability for hearing impaired customers.

The store will open on Saturday in Kunitachi, western Tokyo, with 19 hearing impaired employees among 25 staff members.

The coffee chain already offers services in sign language at four stores in Malaysia, the United States and China at present. | COURTESY OF STARBUCKS JAPAN

The new outlet will be the fifth “signing store” globally run by the U.S. coffee chain Starbucks Corp., as it is stepping up efforts to create stores with focus on diversity and inclusion.

The coffee chain offers services in sign language at four stores in Malaysia, the United States and China at present. Some hearing impaired employees in Japan had sought to open their own signing store after the first such store opened in Malaysia in 2016.

手話が共通言語となる『スターバックス コーヒー nonowa国立店』 が6/27（土）にオープンします。聴者と聴覚に障がいのあるパートナーが共に働き、誰もが自分らしく活躍できる居場所づくりを目指します。ご来店の際には整理券が必要となります。 https://t.co/4dhfSWQ4P0 pic.twitter.com/WS6azHp0CM

— スターバックス コーヒー (@Starbucks_J) June 24, 2020

“I want everyone, people with or without hearing disability, to enjoy our coffee casually,” Eri Otsuka, who engaged in the opening of the new store, said in sign language during an online press conference.

To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the new store will hand out numbered tickets for customer entry, with only takeout offered for the time being.

(Source: JT)