Starbucks has done well in Japan, although the road hasn’t always been smooth. After cutting the ribbon on its first Japan store
in 1996, the company began opening stores at a furious pace. New
shops attracted large crowds, but the effect wore off as the market
became saturated. The company returned to profitability, and net
profits jumped more than sixfold to 3.6 billion yen in 2007, but
declined again to 2.7 billion yen in 2009.