Japan Crate July 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 aims to send candy that is fun and exclusively available in Japan.

My Manga-zine was a little bent out of shape but it was very minor.

Look at all of these items! There is even more underneath, 15 items all-together this month.

There are 3 different subscription levels available: 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 1-10 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 box.

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

Now on to the products. There was a café theme this month and most of the items followed through. My 12 year old daughter was happy to help me sample everything in the box!

1. Maruta Mini Bottle A mini soda bottle filled with a Pop Rock type of candy without the pop. The flavor reminded me of Smarties. I received the strawberry flavor but others may have received cider or lemon flavors. 

2. SakuSaku Panda Anniversary Cookies This box contained 8 individually wrapped cookies that were created for the 20th anniversary of this cookie. Mine were melted and therefore not as cute as shown in the picture but they tasted just fine! A mini cookie on the bottom, a chocolate filling in the middle, and then topped with more chocolate. 

Here is a picture of the individually wrapped cookie because who doesn’t like cute pandas?

3. Takaoka Choco Flakes These are corn flakes with a chocolate-flavored coating. Nothing too special here and only contained about a handful in the whole package. 

4. Morokoshi WaTaro Doubanjiano Flavor Large corn puff snacks with an unusual sweet/spicy/umami flavor. Most of my family thought this had a bit of a fish flavor. 

5. Yaokin Cocobis Biscuits A cookie/cracker hybrid with a sweet glaze baked on top. The coconut flavor is very mild and I didn’t detect it myself. 

6. Matsunaga Animal Kid Biscuits These not-too sweet animal crackers have cute little animals stamped on them. The flavor is very mild and they reminded me of a slightly sweet version of hard Italian bread sticks.

7. Kasugai Sumiyaki Coffee Candy contained individually wrapped hard candy disks that tasted of sweetened coffee. I am not a coffee drinker but these were good and my daughter loved them. They reminded me of the café latte lollipops that my mom would buy from See’s Candy.

8. Yokai Watch Jelly Drink DIY Both the Original and Premium crates include a DIY candy each month. This month it was a jelly drink featuring characters from the Nintendo game.

There were directions in the Manga-zine so I put my girls to work to see what they thought of it. The finished product is supposed to be cola flavored.

They took turns mixing the two packets of dry Jello-like contents into the included cup.

Next they added ice and kept stirring. In the end they had a jelly drink that tasted like a combination of flat Coca Cola mixed with crushed up Smarties and a hint of aspartame type aftertaste.

Here is the finished product in its cute little cup. There was a lid and straw included too.

9. Milk Flavored Chocolate This little pack contained mini pearl-like candies that tasted similar to sweetened evaporated milk. 

10. Tohato Paicro Sugar & Butter Flavor Croissants I think these are supposed to taste like Elephant Ears or Palmiers, puff pastries with sugar sprinkles. These reminded me more of a crunchy coated cereal. They were tasty and the bag contained a generous amount. 

11. Maroshuwa Peach Soda I don’t care for fruit flavored American sodas (with the exception of the short-lived Aspen apple flavored soda of the late 1970’s or maybe the occasional Sunkist). They are way too sweet so I just mix fruit juice and sparkling water to make my own less-sweet version. I wish I could find this Japanese peach soda online because it was not overly sweet and was refreshing. My favorite item this month! 

12. Sanko Kari Kari Caramel Twist Crackers These sweet crackers look like crullers and smell like donuts but they were so hard (like caramel corn) that I was afraid I might lose a filling and asked my daughter not to ruin her braces by biting it.

13. Punifuwa Happy Nikukyu Peach Gummies Kitten paw shaped peach flavored gummies. These are supposed to be as soft as a cat’s paw. I have never had a paw in my mouth before but these are very soft.

14. White & Cookies Candy A small square of cookies and cream candy with more cookies than white chocolate. 

15. Puchi Puchi Uranai Candy translates into “pop-pop fortune telling choco”. The chocolate non-pareils are supposed to tell your fortune and my daughter had a fun time trying to figure hers out.

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. Some of the items offer a different spin on what we have here in the U.S. but the packaging always adds to the enjoyment.

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