Japan Crate is a monthly subscription box that helps you “experience the excitement of Japan every month through fun candy & snacks.” They have three subscription levels that start at $12 a month and offer 1, 3, 6, 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.
DEAL: Save $5 on your first regular or premium crate with coupon code CANDY5.
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. The cover included references to some of the snacks!
I love that Japan Crate takes the time to put out a helpful guide to all the products, as well as some info on what is happening in Japan at this time of year.
Now on to the products. My 13-year-old daughter especially loves this box and helped me test the products. Japan Crate now has an online shop so if you want to try these out just follow the links!
Everything in the box! Japan Crate always manages to put together a colorful box!
Sakuranbo No Uta are cherry flavored hard candies that have a different taste than the cherry flavored candies in America. Japan Crate says it is supposed to taste like a cherry pie with whipped cream but I didn’t pick up any creaminess.
Yakimo Yokan is an extremely odd sort of snack. This is sort of a gelatinous paste that tastes like super sweet sweet potato. It’s a type of wagashi (confection made with plants) and yokan are usually made from adzuki bean paste.
Animal Lesson Choco are small, round vanilla-ish cookies with different animals stamped on the outside and a chocolate filling on the inside. It looks like it might be used for teaching young children the name of common animals in English.
Umai Wa Vegetable Salad Flavor are extremely tasty and addictive! These corn puff rings have a salty flavor with a touch of sweetness and I can’t really think of a similarly flavored chip. Send more, please, since this generously sized bag is long gone!
Tohato Harvest Biscuit Matcha Flavor has 8 individually wrapped packages containing 4 thin, crispy cookies in each one. This cookie is slightly sweet with matcha flavor, almost a cross between a baked chip and a cracker.
Tsundermon Gum. There were 5 gumballs inside this pack. The outside is a pale yellow color but when you bite down beware: there’s a sour surprise in the middle of this lemon-flavored gum. The best part was that I could actually blow bubbles with this gum and it didn’t stick to my face!
Grapefruit & Orange Nodo Ame. Nodeame are throat lozenges and this package contains 12 individually wrapped candies, 6 of each flavor. It says “herb extract” in the ingredients but I’m not sure which herb is featured. These also have vitamin C to help provide a little TLC.
Morokoshi Wa Ta Ro reminds me of a buttery, cheese-less version of Cheetos! These are salty and have a nice flavor, maybe garlic?
Anpanman Pero Pero Chocolate features the face of a character from a book series whose head looks like a bean-filled bun and loosely translates into “bean bun boy”. This chocolate was smooth and similar to milk chocolate and I ate it without sharing (shhh, don’t tell Karina!).
Choco Kinako Mochi Maccha DIY wasn’t in my Manga-zine and was a replacement for the missing Magic Slime DIY.
The instructions for this kit were in Japanese but luckily Japan Crate had easy instructions on their blog.
Karina opened up the matcha and chocolate packets and placed them in their little compartments. Next, she spooned a few drops of water over the dehydrated mochi disks. As they rehydrated they became gooey and started to stick together. Finally, Karina used the included “fork” to dip first in the chocolate and then in the matcha powder. I tried the mochi by itself and expected it to taste like a marshmallow but it was more like unflavored gelatin. Mochi are made out of gelatinous rice so I guess that’s fitting!
Double Sparkling Yuzu & Lemon Soda is super sized and has a refreshing flavor that borders on floral. I think this tastes like grapefruit blossoms!
Pure Gummy Puchi Sankaku Lemon is a gummy disk that has a sour coating that made my mouth pucker but then the sweetness comes through and all is right with the world!
Long Cola Gum was gobbled by my daughter since I can’t stand the flavor of cola gums every since a friend gave me one back in high school. I didn’t drink a Coke for a long time after that! Karina said it didn’t taste too much like a cola though so maybe I will give it a try next time.
Kakushi Ume-Dama are modeled after pickled plums (umeboshi) and are hard fruity candies that have a bit of a sour middle. According to the Manga-zine, at least one of the candies in the bag is super sour, but they all look the same! Just like a ninja, the sour one will sneak up on you when you least expect it.
Caplico Mini Cone comes in three different flavors and I received vanilla (others may receive strawberry or chocolate). The wafer cone holds a light, airy filling and there is chocolate concealed in the bottom of the cone. Why did I agree to share?
I loved this month’s assortment of goodies from Japan Crate! You should see my daughter when this box shows up, she loves it too! I had a really hard time finding most of these online so it is indeed exclusive. I think the salad rings were my favorite item this month since I don’t think we have anything like it here!
What item do you want to try from this month’s Japan Crate?
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