Japan Crate is a monthly subscription box that sends candy and snacks from Japan. The box aims to "recreate the excitement of exploring Japan through fun candy and everything kawaii," and the assortment is handpicked straight from Japan.
There are 3 crate sizes to choose from: Mini, Original, and Premium.
This review is of the Premium crate.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Japan Crate
The Cost: $12/month for Mini crate, $25/month for Original crate, $30/month for Premium crate. Free shipping to the US.
COUPON: Save $5 off your first Original or Premium box with code MSA5!
The Products: Candy and snacks from Japan!
Ships to: Internationally with exceptions found here.
Check out all of our Japan Crate reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory!
Keep Track of all your subscriptions: Add Japan Crate to your subscription list or wishlist!
The monthly manga-zine provides an array of useful information on included items, Japanese culture, and has a little comic strip to boot.
Mochitto Kinako Mochi
Mochi is soft Japanese rice cake and it is popular and has continued to be popular internationally. This pouch contains two sweet mochi that are powdered with something sweet on top. I enjoy mochi in general and this was no different! It's such a delicate flavor.
Big Mashuro
This is your standard marshmallow. It tastes like a marshmallow.
Sour Cider Gum
I'll be honest I wasn't a fan of this. It's a long piece of gum that tastes sweet and a little sour. The gum also has a hollow inside so they tricked me into thinking I was getting more bang for the buck.
Nori Shio Potato Chips
Subscribers got either the Nori Shio or French Salad potato chips. Mine is seaweed flavored. While I don't typically like dried seaweed I can appreciate it on some things, like sushi, for example. This is the same: the seaweed adds some interesting savory flavor to otherwise very normal potato chips. I would eat this again!
Big Bar Z: White Choco
This tastes absolutely delicious! It has the texture of a fluffy cheese puff but tastes like white chocolate! It melts in my mouth. So good.
Puku Puku Taichoco
I love this one as well. It's a huge cookie shaped liked a fish. The outside is covered in wafer and the inside is airy, whipped milk chocolate.
Closeup of the Puku Puki Taichoco cookie.
Pandaro Cookies
The most miserable feeling I get when eating a cookie is being told I can only have one. There's only one thin cookie in this bag! You can't do that to a cookie addict! Misery aside, this butter cookie is shaped like a panda face. The taste is almost reminiscent of Biscoff.
Sakusaku Panda Cookies
These are small crunchy cookies with white and milk chocolate on top. The panda faces look cute but many of them were deformed by the heat. Still delicious though.
King's Lost Crown
Another delicious crumbly cookie, this time in the shape of a striped crown.
Pachipachi Panic Cola
"Pachipachi" is the sound of crackling. I'm not a huge fan of things that pop in my mouth, so I didn't try this one out. This is Cola-flavored, again!
Tohato Caramel Corn
Delicious! The corn puffs have the same crunch as those white cheddar Cheetos puffs but with caramel instead of cheese. I loved these! There were some peanuts in the bag as well so those with peanut allergies need to watch out.
Kajirittyo Cola Candy
Is it just me or are Cola-flavored candies very popular? This is a taffy-like rope candy that's Cola-flavored on the outside and cider-flavored on the inside. I wasn't able to tell just what kind of cider the candy was referring to, though.
Hachimitsu 100%
This is candy made from 100% honey. I'm sure you can imagine what it would taste like-- absolutely delicious! It's like honey-flavored cough drops but without the cough drops! The candies come individually wrapped.
Hajikete Grape Cider
This is carbonated grape soda. I think I liked last month's pineapple soda better but this wasn't bad either!
Cola rope candy?
This candy wasn't listed in the booklet! I couldn't find much English on the packaging either. It's a long rope candy covered in sugar granules. And yes, it is Cola-flavored.
Nomuccho Jelly
This month's DIY kit is a jelly kit. The DIY part is really easy, simply add water and powder together and mix. Honestly the consistency became super slimy after mixing for a couple of minutes and I didn't like eating it at all.
Kitty Cup toy
How cute is this kitty? These small toys are typically found in those coin-slot vending machines, which are very popular in Japan. I love the kitty-in-a-cup concept and personally wouldn't mind more of these.
Closeup of the Kitty Cup and photos of the Nomuccho Jelly.
Verdict: I loved this month's Japan Crate! I could maybe do less of the Cola-flavored candy, but they're things I don't often see in the States, at least. All the cookies and savory snacks tasted amazing though. If I had to pick a favorite it'd be the Puku Puku chocolate wafer fish. I counted 16 edibles total (the Kitty Cup would make it 17), so less than $2 apiece is a pretty good deal for discovering Japanese snacks you can't easily find in the US.
What do you think of this month's Japan Crate?
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