Japan Crate June 2016 Subscription Box Review + Coupon

Japan Crate is a monthly subscription box that helps you “experience the excitement of Japan every month through fun candy & snacks”. They offer three subscription levels that start at $12 a month and offer 1, 3, or 12 month plans that auto renew at the end of the term. Japan Crate tries to send candy that is fun and exclusively available in Japan.

The box itself was bright and full of cute drawings but the treats look like a beautiful rainbow full of adorable critters exploded over everything. I love it!

The Mini box includes 5 items, the Original box includes those items PLUS another 5 items, and the Premium box includes those 10 items PLUS another 5 items. This month I am reviewing the Premium kit but I will be numbering the items so if you are thinking of subscribing to one of the other sizes you will know what is included. Note: Numbers 1-5 are in the Mini, numbers 1-11 are in the Original, and numbers 1-15 are in the Premium.

There was a Manga-zine that had a comic followed by the contents of the boxes.

Thank goodness there was a cheat sheet since my understanding of the Japanese language is non-existent.

Now on to the products. My 12 year old daughter was happy to help me sample everything in the box.
1. Choco Shinamikonja Imashita are described as mini chocolate crepes and the name means “to be soaked in chocolate”. They reminded me of chocolate wafer cookies but instead of a creamy filling they seem to have chocolate throughout (even though they are uncoated and hollow). They were delicious!

2. Umaibo Tonkatsu Sauce is a corn snack puff that tastes like sauce covered fried pork cutlets. Not bad, sweet and salty.

3. Nagai Sour Gummy is a long sugar-coated gummy that had an orange Tang flavor that I liked.

4. Super Heart Chiple are heart shaped chips with a BBQ flavor. 

5. Corn Potage Puffs are corn soup flavored puffs, which is kind of a weird flavor for a chip, but then it turns a little sweet at the end.

6. Okashina Salon DIY Kit: Remember those Play-Do kits that let you grow your doll’s hair and then cut it off with plastic scissors? This is the same concept, except you can EAT IT! Who says you can’t play with your food? 

7. Otona No Amasa KitKat are dark chocolate KitKats. The consistency was a little different from the US version as well as the taste but these were very good. I bought Green Tea KitKats last year at the Asian superstore but I am going to look for these next time!

8. Umai Sittori Choco look like Brownie Bites and taste like chocolaty corn puff snacks. They were good!

9. Paricchu Red Budou Grape flavored hard candy with a soft chewy center. I am not usually a fan of grape flavored candy but I liked this one.

10. Matcha Condensed Milk Candy I am not into matcha at all but I tried it and I guess it had a matcha flavor at the beginning but I can only describe these as sweet. Nothing oozed out of the middle and my daughter promptly spit hers out. 

11. Cola Dinosaur Candy are gummy candies that taste like cola. I tried a cola flavored gum back in high school and couldn’t drink Cokes for months afterwards so I left these to my kids. They liked them and they did smell like cola. 

12. Tsugaru Apple Sakeru Gummy came in individually wrapped packets that required scissors to open and I made the mistake of sticking the whole gummy in my mouth but I think it is supposed to be peeled, like string cheese. I don’t like green apple flavored candies but my girls enjoyed them. 

13. Maple Butter Beer Fue Ramune are different from anything I have ever tried but the Harry Potter reference had me intrigued (there is even Harry Potter on the bag, in a cartoonish way). This was like a super fast melting soft Smartie with a sweet caramel flavor. 

14. Aomori Apple Soda Aomori is famous for their apples and this soda is supposed to taste just like the fruit. I think it tastes similar to green apple candy.

15. The Legend of Zelda Lanyard with Charm This lanyard features a character from the video game all over the fabric with a charm and badge holder attached.

I am so happy that I got to try Japan Crate! This was filled with fun, tasty treats that I have never seen before and I am going to look for them (or similar items) in the Asian market next time I go. I had a hard time finding these items on Amazon so the exclusivity is certainly there. My 12 year old LOVED this box and had fun trying everything too.

What item do you want to try from this month’s Japan Crate? Save $5 on your first regular or premium crate! Use coupon code CANDY5.