Sakuraco : a review of a Japanese snack box with 20 treats a month

If there is a subscription box I can’t help but try it. Over the years I’ve been a big fan of ones like Birchbox, Raddish Kids, Fab Fit Fun, Trove and even a clothing rental subscription called Armoire from Seattle. Most recently, I’ve been trying out Sakuraco, a Japanese snack box that comes with authentic treats from Japan as well as a few home goods too. I really miss traveling to Japan and my grandparents used to do tea ceremonies (and they tried to teach me too) so I love these kinds of snacks.

So what will I find inside a Sakuraco Japanese snack Box?

Every month I get an email about my upcoming box. When I subscribed I knew that this October Sakuraco box would have a Mount Fuji theme. There is a little booklet that comes inside every Sakuraco box that explains the treats inside and how they relate to the theme. Before you subscribe make sure you look for a coupon code. I just googled one online and mine added a cute little Mount Fuji soy sauce dish with my 3 month subscription. I like that with Sakuraco you can choose to go month by month, 3 months, 6 months or a full year and you get discounts based on how long you subscribe. I feel like a 3 month subscription gives a good feel for how I would use a subscription box. I have also subscribed to the Tokyo Treat box for three months from the same company in the past and I paused for a month at the end of my subscription so I think after three months I could maybe try to pause it for a bit too if I need a little break. Having to manage a subscription box all the time is usually the part that overwhelms me and makes the box less fun for me and I tend to quit around that time so we’ll see if I continue this Sakuraco subscription after the 3 month mark.

Trying out 20 authentic Japanese treats at home

It is so cool to have a big box of Japanese snacks arrive at your house without having to go anywhere. I know I could get some of these things at our local Uwajimaya store but I would never buy this many or this variety at once and most of the time I tend to by the same things. Having this box arrive with products chosen for me makes me try something new. This would make a great gift for someone going on a trip to Japan for the first time to give them a sense of some of the foods they might find on their trip.

Twenty treats is a lot so it’s really cool if you can share these snacks with others. I know that my grandpa and my mom really like things like the manju and tea snacks in the box. My kids and husband tend to like the sweets and cakes. The home goods make nice little gifts to have around just in case you need a quick hostess gift. So for this box, the Mt. Fuji bowl in this box is colorful and fun and I thought I would give it to my grandpa with the Kabocha Pudding Bread. I ate the Uji Matcha Tiramisu Baumkauchen while I was working from home one day and it was really delicious. I wasn’t really a fan of the kinako mochi. I usually like things with kinako but this was a lot and I think it need red beans or something else to go with the mochi taste. And I think I still have about 10 snacks left to try. I’m most wary of the Otto soy sauce chips because they are flavored with sardines which doesn’t sound as cute as the cartoon fish picture on the front. Other than that, the other 19 treats all seem like things I would like to try so I think so far this box is really good value.

I totally wonder what next month will bring in my Sakaruco box. Are you interested in things like monthly subscription boxes? And would you subscribe to a monthly Japanese snack box too?

(PS while we’re on the topic of subscription boxes, my dream box is still the Jilly Box which is absolutely impossible to get? Do you know about this box? I am on the waiting list…)

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)