I admit it: I had a breakdown. It probably happened sometime after Starbucks Store No. 100 opened in the cavernous Tameike-Sanno subway station. My first reaction was: What, another one? How many more of these places, full of smiling, happy crowds, nursing "bold expressions" and munching on brownies or biscotti, are there?
At last count, there are 182 in the Tokyo area, with the number set to increase to well over 200 by the time the new century arrives.
So, like millions of others, I went, I drank, I succumbed.
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