Japan Crate delivers a pile of Japanese candies and snacks, all in their original, super-kawaii domestic packaging. A mini subscription is $12 with 4-6 items per month, a regular is $25 with 8-10 items and 1 guaranteed DIY kit, and the premium crate is $30 with 12-14 items. The premium crate includes a drink, DIY kit, and will have a surprise item ranging from a bag of Japanese chips to a Premium DIY kit or gashapon figure/keychain.
Our massive Premium box. Immediately upon opening the box, you know that you are being gastronomically whisked away to a magical land where everyone, and everything, takes on a the guise of a manga or anime characters.
The box came with a free 30 day Crunchyroll membership. 
The little booklet reads right to left, in authentic Japanese fashion. It has a brief manga feature, some additional product info, fan pics, giveaways and contest results, and other items of interest.
This helpful chart provides info on each item in the box. I think its cool that they have an accretive, tiered item roster — each box upgrade includes everything in the lower tiers. Here, you can peruse contents of other tiers to see if you would be just as happy with a lower tier, or if you want to spring on a higher tier.
All the goodies in the box. We got the Premium box, so it included the DIY kit*, drink, and surprise.
The premium box is a combination of the Mini & Original Boxes, plus extra items, so you can see what each box consists of.
January 2016 Japan Crate Mini Box
Japan Crate Mini Box items.
JU-C Short Cake: A large candy disk with a texture similar to a Rolaid, but with a strawberry shortcake flavor.
Hello Kitty Strawberry Pretzel: Just like the famous Pocky, this Hello Kitty branded candy-coated stick has a slightly pretzel-like bread stick and a sweet strawberry icing.
Calbee Usushi/Ume Potato Chips: Subscribers received either Usushi (light salt) or Ume (plum). We received the slightly less exotic light salt flavor. These chips were identical to American-style potato chips, but with a much cuter package.
Milk Chocolate Pocky: A crunchy biscuit stick coated in sweet chocolate icing. This box contained a double-sized pack.
Asahi Capis Gummy: The exterior is a translucent soft gummy envelope specked with granular sugar. Inside is a squishy and oozy milk-flavored gel.
January 2016 Japan Crate Original Box
Everything in the Mini Box plus…
The Additional Original box items.
Unfortunately our long awaited Gudetama didn’t make it!
We received this squishy as a replacement. Japan Crate is including a special bonus item in all February crates to make up for it (so this is a great time to subscribe!).
Fit’s Stawberry & Cream Gum: Sized and shaped like Orbitz, this pink stick gum has a sweet strawberry and cream flavor. Each stick is individually wrapped with a Waldo and Waldina wrapper.
Lotte Pokémon Chewing Candy (Bonus): Shaped like an uber-beefy stick of gum, these tropical fruit flavored sticks dissolve after a minute of chewing. Each stick features one of your favorite Pokemon.
I love that the inside asks, “Where’s Wally?”
The back of the pack has a mini Where’s Waldo scene.
Pom Sparkling Orange Gummy: This brightly flavored gummies are really soft and are coated with small crystals of sugar.
Takaoka Yam White Chocolates: Deliciously sweet white chocolate cubes infused with mild and tasty yam. If you were not aware of the ingredient, you would assume this was just a delightful white chocolate with a hint of caramel.
Pokémon Pineapple Candy: The exterior is soft and similar to a Starburst, within that layer is a sticky core containing crunchy candy crystals. The flavor is sweet and slightly tart.
January 2016 Japan Crate Premium Box
Everything in the Original Box plus…
Glico GABA Infused Stress Relieving Milk Chocolate: Along with the beneficial infusion of GABA, these little chocolates have a superbly creamy texture. The chocolate is quite a bit darker than you would expect in milk chocolate.
Sukitto Lemon C Drink: A carbonated lemonade drink flavored with real lemon juice.
Pizza Pretz: A crunchy, buttery pretzel stick coated with a Margherita pizza flavor.
Japan Crate is very cool. All the candy and snacks were in Japanese domestic packaging (a few had the additional, English export sticker), so each item has the cool Manga/Anime-style artwork that is ubiquitous in Japanese branding. The box was loaded with items and carefully packed. Though the theme of the subscription is not super unique (Japan is well-represented in the international candy sampler box community), the curation is phenomenal, since I have only seen one of the items (or a version of it) in other candy subscriptions we’ve reviewed. The palatability was excellent — there were no seafood, kelp, or ultra salty/sour oddball selections. Everything was both authentic Japanese and attractive to a western palate. The value is great too: if you had used the coupon code on this crate, each item would have been under $2! Highly recommended for any fan of Japanese candy or culture.
Visit Japan Crate to subscribe or find out more! Save $5 on your first Premium crate with coupon code hello.
The Description: Every month receive a mystery box stuffed with premium full size Japanese candy, snacks and DIY kits. Receive anything from a sushi candy making kit to soda jello! A mini subscription is $12 with 4-6 items per month, a regular is $25 with 8-10 items and 1 guaranteed DIY kit, and the premium crate is $30 with 12-14 items. The premium crate includes a crate, DIY kit, and will have a surprise item ranging from a bag of Japanese chips to a Premium DIY kit or gashapon figure/keychain.
The Price: $25.00 per month
The Categories: Boxes with Geographic Appeal, International Food Subscription Boxes, Local Boxes: Asian. Asian Snack & Candy Subscription Boxes, Japanese Snack & Candy Subscription Boxes.
The Reviews: See all our Japan Crate Reviews.
The Spoilers: Check out Japan Crate Spoilers.
Comments
Ahhh, I miss Japanese snack boxes, but with a konbini right downtown I’ve had to cut back. Calbee chips are AMAZING though. The wasabi and ginger ones are my favourite.