What is Japan Crate? Japan Crate is a monthly subscription service that sends a box full of Japanese sweets and drinks.
I first heard about Japan Crate when a friend of mine introduced me to this Super Mario chocolate pop that apparently was primarily sold in Japan and was featured in a previous Japan Crate box. I have a sweet tooth and have been a fan of Japanese culture so I investigated further. There are three subscription options, Mini, Original and Premium.
Subscription Options:- Mini is 12 per month and you receive 4 to 6 items
- Original is 25 per month with 8 to 10 items plus a DIY Kit Guaranteed.
- Premium is $30 per month with 12-14 items, a drink, a DIY Kit, and a bonus item. If you are trying to choose between the Original and Premium I think the $5 extra dollars is worth it.
Included in my subscription box:
The box comes with a booklet with informative information on each item provided. The booklet is very useful as it describes what every candy is and an insight to the toy they sent as a bonus. The booklet also provides some informative information on Japan. The booklet also provides a section where you can learn new words in Japanese. It was a nice little read while I tried each candy out.
Meji Fran-Chocolate Cream– A buttery cookie stick covered in chocolate cream.Well it’s chocolate so I immediately loved it. It reminded me of Pocky, which I love. Great, light, on-the-go snack. Also, If you are allergic to almonds and soy then I wouldn’t recommend this candy as it is a part of the ingredients.
Sweet Corn Pretz– It is a buttered salted sweet corn stick.
Surprisingly, this one is one of my favorites out of the box because normally I don’t care for corn or corn flavored things and apparently corn flavored items are very popular in Japan. I can see why now. Tasted exactly how it sounds but even better.
Glug Glug Want Chocolate- Love the name! GGWC is a Taiyaki waffle-like batter filled with a light chocolate mousse and it was delicious!
FullGurt Candy- Fruity hard candy that is a blueberry yogurt or a mango yogurt flavor.
I was hoping it was a hard candy with a soft yogurt flavor inside as it looks like in the wrapper but it’s not. The candy breaks apart almost immediately, I didn’t care for the texture much. The taste wasn’t bad though.
I should also mention for those will allergies, It does have soy and flavor(egg) inside the ingredients.
Nata de coco Grape Gummy– The manual explains that the Nata de coco is a sweet jelly made from coconut water. It’s combined with grape gummies. This was my least favorite candy out of the whole box. It did taste like a little like grapes but at the same time had this weird fake taste to them. I didn’t care for these very much.
Mokomoko Mokoretto “In A Toilet” – Assemble and decorate you own toilet!
This has to be the most entertaining item in the entire box. It’s literally a toilet that you assemble then eat out of. There are different themed toilets you can received, I received the United States toilet. I had fun putting it together and then mixing the water and powder in the toilet. It then creates this foam type candy which then requires you to drink it with a straw. You are literally drinking out of a toilet. I could see lots of kids eating this candy and decorating the toilet with the stickers. I actually googled this candy and found a few interesting photos of other folks using their toilet as a pot for their plant. I may have to do this myself and update.
Konpeito– Sugar candy that is a traditional Japanese candy from the 16th century.
This is pretty much straight sugar, fun to eat though.
Fun Fact: The Star Bits from Super Mario Galaxy and the Gratitude Crystals in Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are based on these. Thanks Wikipedia.
Kawarinbo– 3 in 1 lollipop
This lollipop has two sides, each with their own flavor. Then once you finish the lollipop, you can unwrap the stick to get a piece of gum.
My Thoughts – This is candy that transforms! ^-^
It also tastes pretty good!
This was another one of my favorite items out of this box. I love potato chips and was a little hesitant because I saw the primary ingredient is seaweed flakes, (right on the front of the bag), which is new to me. I am a teacher and I have seen some of my students eat seaweed during snack time, it never looked appealing but like I said before, this is about trying new things, so I went for it. I’m glad I did. These chips were delicious.
Gudetama Gashapon– The booklet explains that Gudetama is the laziest egg in Japan. The booklet states that the keychain is to be given to your laziest friend or keep it for those lazy days when you’d rather just stay in bed!My thoughts- This is an odd but cute little keychain. I think I’ll go hand it to my husband now. 😛
Lemon Squash- Lemon Squash means Lemonade in Japan.
It reminded me of a Kool-Aid Burst, except watered down. Even comes in the plastic bottles with the breakable twist-off tab. I wasn’t much of a fan though.
Lychee Ramune– This is a carbonated fruit flavored drink.
Fruity and refreshing! Almost like a grape soda.
Overall, I think the concept of the box is brilliant. A subscription box that provides sweets and goods to those who may not have items such as Japanese candy accessible to them. It also provides a bit of that culture which I also enjoyed. Also, I like that it included the ingredients and nutritional value was also labeled in English over each candy. Although, all the items there were included, were really for me, I still appreciated the variety of choices. I couldn’t eat it all but luckily my family helped out. I think if you are interested to try something new, and have a sweet tooth like me, you should try this crate out.
I should also mention that every month one lucky Japan Crate subscriber can win a Sugoi Crate. This past month’s Sugoi Crate featured A White PS4, a Pikachu Backpack, a Hatsune Miku figure and more valued over $500.
Need another reason to give Japan Crate a shot? Below is a preview of Novembers Sugoi Crate you can win:
If you are interested in trying out Japan Crate for yourself, you can purchase a box on their website.
By Vanessa Benavides
Twitter: @vanbenavides