Candy Box Japan February 2016 Subscription Box Review

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Candy Box Japan is here, and it’s an unassuming Japan Post box stuffed to the gills with colourful candy and treats! (The above group shot is incomplete — umaibo never last longer than two seconds in my house).

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The first look is pretty intriguing — I see a photo of one of my favourite DIY kits (I have done that kit twice before, and both times it looked a hot mess) there!

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The information sheet is simple but to the point — I love the little toons on it! And no, you’re not reading that wrong — this box has SIX DIY kits! If you’re a Japanese snack box fan, you know how covetable DIY candy kits are. So many boxes guarantee at least one, two if you pay a premium, and there were six in this box!

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The Kracie Popin’ Cookin’ DIY kits (three total) all came with incredibly cute and detailed instruction sheets. I’m not sure if these are officially licensed by Kracie but if so, wow! I’m really impressed if it is, because it means Japan knows how much we’re embracing their treats internationally. With my rudimentary Japanese skills and YouTube videos, it’s pretty easy to follow along, but this is great if you want to sit down and do it step-by-step.

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The three Popin’ Cookin’ kits. This series by Kracie is usually focused on creating mini versions of popular foods like pizza, burgers, sushi, donuts, ice cream, etc. The candies are either artificially flavoured (ie the piece of egg sushi is lemon flavoured, if I remember correctly) or are flavoured to mimic the actual food — there’s a hamburger kit in particular that was deeply weird to make and eat.

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Three more Kracie kits. I made all three of these kits last night. The left most makes a grape jelly sort of dessert in a cup. The right is wafer biscuits you dip in more foamy jelly and chocolate with sprinkles. And the middle one? Well, it’s supposed to be a cute animal pancake…

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NAILED IT.

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G-Zone is a medley of soda-flavoured candies — cola, lemon (think Sprite/7-Up) and ginger ale. These are soft with a sugary dust on the outside and a juicy inside. I loved these, but I love anything cola. The ginger ale ones had a real ginger flavour to them.

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Umaibo! I could eat these by the dozen, I’m not joking. Imagine the lightest, fluffiest, corn puff/cheese puff. Then enlarge it by 1000% and flavour it with anything from chicken katsu, to curry, to pizza, to sugar. ‘Umai’ means delicious in Japan, and that’s what these things are. I don’t even know what flavour this one is, I inhaled it so fast I forget what it tasted like.

Black Black is a gum so strong that when you inhale after, it feels like you’re breathing in the arctic tundra. I wouldn’t even call it a gum because it doesn’t chew, just sort of crunches away in your mouth.

Panda Pocky! I’ve had these before and they’re so awesome. The stick is chocolate and the frosting is vanilla with flecks of cookie in it. And I love the box art!

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Hi Chew is found easily around where I live — they have a ton of flavours, and I think the easiest comparison would be Starburst — they’re quite chewy but not hard. This is a lemon flavour and it looks like it’s filled with something. I’m still too traumatised by the gum to try one of these right now.

Sake Kitkats. Oh Japan. Your plethora of kitkats are my favourite thing ever, and I’ve tried all the weird ones. I may need to try one of these as dessert tonight.

That wraps up February’s Candy Box Japan! Honestly, I”m blown away at how many DIY kits were in this! This would be an amazing box for someone who leans toward them, and while they do outweigh the rest of the box in terms of variety, it’s still a solid offering. I’m happy to see Pocky and Kitkat making an appearance, and there were some new things to try I’d never heard of before.

Visit Candy Box Japan to subscribe or find out more!

The Subscription: Candy Box Japan
The Description: A big box of candy direct from Japan to you!  Each month we choose the latest seasonal Japanese candies, DIY kits, and even candy dispensers that are as much toy as they are packaging. You always get to try something new and exciting when you open your Big Candy Box.Your Big Candy Box arrives full with almost a full kilogram (2 lbs) assortment of treats direct from Japan. Don’t understand Japanese? No problem! A helpful legend enclosed in the box explains what’s what and how to use the DIY kits.
The Price: $28.00 per month

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  • Brad
    03.09.16

    Valerie you are so detailed with, thanks for sharing! I can never find Black Black gum. Can you tell me more about that one? It looks round like tablets, but the only kind I’ve tried is the sticks (similar to Wrigley Doublemint)… were these ones hard candies or some kind of crazy crunchy gum like you describe lol

    nice website btw!

    • Valerie
      03.09.16

      Hi Brad! Thanks for the comment. They’re small black crunchy gumdballs. There’s really very little ‘chew’ to them; it breaks apart in your mouth after a few seconds. According to Wikipedia they’re actually caffeinated as well. I did a google search for ‘black black strong type’ and found a few online shops that sell it, including Amazon. Happy hunting!

  • Camesha
    03.05.16

    I love in Japan and these candies are awesome! They are everywhere out here and sometimes 3 for 100 yen

    • Valerie
      03.05.16

      Ah, I’m so jealous. Visiting Japan is on my bucket list.

  • Amy Thompson
    03.04.16

    I’ve never ordered one of these candy boxes.. the last thing i need is candy! But i just saw on the site, you can buy one of the boxes as a 1-time deal to see if you like it. that’s what i’m going for!

    • Valerie
      03.05.16

      I would definitely go for it since they have that option!