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Japan Crate Subscription Box Review – June 2015

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseJun 19, 2015 | 11 comments

Japan Crate Subscription Box Review – June 2015 Box

Japan Crate is a monthly subscription that sends full-sized, Japanese candy and DIY food kits straight from Tokyo.

Japan Crate sent us this box for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

JapanCrate-June-2015-Contents

The Subscription Box: Japan Crate

The Cost: $12 per month for the mini crate (4-6 candies); $25 per month for the original crate (8-12 candies and DIY Kits); $30 per month for the premium crate (10-14 candies and DIY Kits).

The Products: Full-sized Japanese candy and DIY food kits.

Ships to: Worldwide. (US shipping is free. Shipping elsewhere is $10.)

JapanCrate-June-2015-Card1

Japan Crate includes a card detailing the items in the box. (Note that this is a review of the premium crate.)

JapanCrate-June-2015-Card2

On the card’s reverse, there’s a cartoon. Japan Crate is introducing “Sugoi Crate,” a large crate full of prizes that one lucky subscriber will receive every month. Sugoi Crates will contain goodies valued at over $500, and subscribers will be automatically entered to win one every month.

JapanCrate-June-2015-Drink

Kawaii Ramune

Ramune is a popular Japanese soda with a light, fruity flavor. This bottle is sealed with a clear marble. To drink, you pop the marble out of the cap and enjoy!

Happy Paws Gummy- value $1

These gummies are flavored with peach and shaped like paw prints. They’re very soft, and I like the subtle peachy flavor.

JapanCrate-June-2015-Pocky

Choco Banana Pocky- value $1.46

According to the card provided by Japan Crate, this is the newest flavor from Pocky. (They’re a take on the classic chocolate covered banana.) I really like Pocky snacks, and I think these long, chocolate banana cookie sticks are a great addition to the Pocky repertoire.

Matcha Pejoy- value $2.48

I’ve had matcha Pocky before (cookie sticks covered in matcha-flavored chocolate), but these are a little different. Instead of being coated in chocolate, these sticks are stuffed with a creamy matcha filling. I love matcha-flavored treats, and I think these are tasty!

JapanCrate-June-2015-BigBar

Snow Pea Chips

These remind me a lot of Trader Joe’s Inner Peas. I’m a fan of snow pea chips, so I’ll happily nibble on these. According to the info card, there will be some variation with this item. Subscribers will either receive Snow Pea Chips or Soy Sauce Mochi.

White Chocolate Big Bar Z

Big Bar Z is a candy bar that consists of crunchy, wafer cookies covered in white chocolate.

Red Potion/ Black Potion

This gum paints your tongue red and black. Japan Crate suggests using it to find out where on your tongue you chew your gum.

JapanCrate-June-2015-Gum

Ramune Marble Gum

This gum is flavored with ramune. It has a crunchy candy shell and a mild flavor. I like it a lot (and also the happy soda bottle cartoon on the front of the packet)!

Kirby Blend-Blend Mix Gum

Quite a few of the candies Japan Crate sends are special in some way- this gum, for example, contains 5 different flavored gumballs. The flavors are: cherry, orange, ramune, yogurt, and prank grey. Prank grey gumballs block your tongue from tasting sweet flavors, so I tried a grey gumball last. The flavor was strange, though not unpleasant. After chewing it for about a minute, I swapped it for an orange gumball. After the eating the grey one, the orange tasted completely different than it had the first time! Not sweet at all. What a fun, bizarre candy!

JapanCrate-June-2015-KitKat

Matcha Green Tea Kit Kat- value $1.06

I received Matcha Kit Kats recently in 30 Days of Candy, and I’m very happy to receive some more. I love Kit Kats, and I think they’re delicious with the matcha-flavored white chocolate coating.

Little Gang Grape

This is a grape-flavored chewing gum that comes in tiny little pieces that crackle like Pop Rocks when you first start to chew them.

JapanCrate-June-2015-Dog

My Neighbor Totoro Figure (BONUS ITEM)

Premium crates from Japan Crate always include a bonus item. This month’s bonus is a figurine from the anime, My Neighbor Totoro. (Subscribers will receive 1 of 10 possible figures.) I’m not familiar with the anime, but I think the figurine is so cute! It’s currently sitting on my desk.

Talking Puppy Chocolate

Talking Puppy Chocolate is a crispy rice chocolate bar that comes with a heat-activated puppy pun joke card inside.

JapanCrate-June-2015-DIY1

Magic Bubble Jelly DIY

Every month, I look forward to assembling the DIY candy kits that Japan Crate sends. This DIY kit helps you create grape-flavored magic jelly. You make the jelly by mixing different packets of powder with water. When they’re all combined, you get a foamy, gelatinous candy. 

JapanCrate-June-2015-CompletedDIY1

This was definitely an unusual candy, and I wasn’t too keen on the flavor. That said, I imagine kids would feel much differently. It’s fascinating to watch this foam appear when two liquids are mixed together, and I can see them being very excited to try candy with such a strange texture!

Japan Crate Subscription Box Review – June 2015 DIY2

Choco Kinako Mochi DIY

This DIY kit reminded me of s’mores, but the treats are made with mochi instead of marshmallows. To prepare the snacks, you simply add water to the dehydrated mochi to “activate” it, and then dip the mochi into the provided toppings.

JapanCrate-June-2015-CompletedDIY2

This kit was fun, easy, and tasty!

Verdict: Japan Crate is so much fun! As always, I really enjoyed trying different kinds of Japanese candy and had a great time constructing the DIY kits. Since few of the items are available for sale online, it’s difficult to determine a value, but the Premium Japan Crate is always packed full of fun treats, and I think the value is definitely there. Japan Crate always puts a smile on my face, and I love discovering new Japanese candy every month!

What do you think about Japan Crate?

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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11 comments

Maemae

My boyfriend bought Pocky at Walmart in Omaha,Ne

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Maemae

The unusual one looks like shampoo and conditioner mixed. ?

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Tamara

TOTORO!! XD Oh dear, you just have to go watch this movie. It -and all of his work- is utterly delightful.

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JacLyn

i agree! You should really watch My Neighbor Totoro and then explore other Miyazaki films! They are wonderful! <3 😀

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Jamie

I signed up for this one. I love trying unusual candies and I have a hard time finding new ones near me. And now I need to watch all my Studio Ghibli films!

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Kimberly

I won this month’s japan crate. Love it. I didn’t try the Ramune soda or DIY kits yet.

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asagaobalcony

“My Neighbor Totoro” isn’t an anime in the cartoon series sense. It’s an animated film by Ghibli Studios that did “Spirited Away” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and probably 20 more films. They’re really beautiful to watch and are still done by hand rather than by computer which makes them even more remarkable. It’s a really sweet story for any age and I recommend it!

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Kyuu

Choco Banana Pocky– value $1.46

^^^

Where do you get your prices? Because that is definitely 50% the cost of what they charge in grocery stores here. And was how much they charged when I was growing up… 15 years ago? The inflation of Pocky has been crazy.

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Alicia

If you follow her link, you’ll be taken to an Amazon listing for a pack of 10 Pocky boxes at $14.66 – that’s $1.46 a box. But yeah, if I want to buy a single box of Pocky at the grocery store, it’ll be much more expensive ($3-$4, I think).

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Alicia

This was my second Japan Crate and I flipping loved it! The treats are so unusual and unique, and the packaging is adorable. The DIY kits make me feel like a kid again! The grape foam candy kit was awesome – I wasn’t a fan of the texture, but mixing it up and watching it change color & texture was more fun than I expected (I’m 32, ha ha). I also sampled the mixed liquids between steps and they all tasted different! The mochi kit was dead easy and super tasty. I had a really pleasant customer service interaction, too. The only downside I can see to this crate is that I can’t always repurchase my favorite snacks!

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Margary

Th smore kit is so creative. Seems like a fun box–too bad it’s almost all sugar 🙁

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