A new month means new boxes from Sakuraco and TokyoTreats for imported snacks from Japan. While both boxes are filled with Japanese snacks, the branding and snack contents are made for slightly different audiences. Both boxes are the same price points for all subscription levels and guarantee the delivery of authentic Japanese for your friends and loved ones. Join me in my discovery of both boxes this to celebrate the traditional and snacktastic seasons.

Sakuraco

Sakuraco (starting at $32.50 USD/mo for 12 months) specializes in a refined snack experience. This month's theme was "Heart of Ishikawa". We're talking snacks bundled with the vibes of the Ishikawa prefecture, where a terrible earthquake has affected the economy and land forever. This box would be ideal for somebody who loves savoury snacks or enjoys a Japanese tea with their Japanese snacks. In my box, I received the following:

1. Bowcha Roasted Tea
2. Noto Sweet Potato
3. Earl Grey and Gorojima Cakes
4. Kaga Shizuku Rice Candy
5. Kintsuba
6. Cinnamon Walnuts
7. Grape Jelly
8. Yuzu Senbei
9. Sesame Senbei
10. Shrimp Flower Senbei
11. Kombu Arare & Shrimp Arare
12. Cocoa & Plain Ruby Roman Wafers
13. Chocolate Pie
14. Hojicha Kinako Mochi
15. Wakasa Chopsticks

Out of the snacks above, I most enjoyed the Earl Grey and Gorojima Cakes which had a strong tea and sweet potato flavour which maintained a ton of freshness despite being shipped all the way from Japan

I was most surprised by the Kintsuba. I have had tons of red bean desserts from the Asian grocery stores here but this confection was on another level. It had more of a brownie texture and lots of texture on the inside of the toasted crust.

If snacks were judged on their aesthetic value, I would rank the Hojicha Kinako Mochi highest. These plump little cakes were fun to look at and filled with a generous amount of roasted green tea filling in every morsel.

TokyoTreat

Next I opened the TokyoTreat (starting at $32.50/mo USD for 12 months) box and this month's theme was "Osaka Snackathon". We're talking snacks from the home of takoyaki and the famous dotonbori street food alley. This box would be ideal for somebody who loves festive snacks, sweet surprises, or wild variations of their favourite KitKat sticks. In my box, I received the following:

1. KitKat Mont Blanc
2. Japanese Plum Soda
3. Salsa Sauce Katsu Bites
4. Ponsuke Nori and Salt Snacks
5. Ramune Dorayaki
6. White Chocolate Crunch
7. Koikeya Wasabi Seaweed Chips
8. Squid & Pickled Ginger Tempura Chips
9. Pull-Apart Sea Animal Gummies
10. Don Taro Udon Snack
11. Cola Mochi
12. Kitsune Udon
13. Dotonbori Grilled Crab Stick
14. Takoyaki & Soy Peanuts

Out of the snacks above, I most enjoyed the Koikeya Seaweed Wasabi Chips. This feels like the quintessential foreign snack of Japan because the wasabi leaves a real lingering smokiness that fills your nose and clears your sinuses. These chips are not for the weak of heart but I loved powering through them regardless.

I was most surprised by the Dotonbori Grilled Crab Stick. This snack was nothing I've had before. It's basically a bean curd-like strip of crab that's chewy and full of smoky crab flavour. It was a new experience in a snack for me and completely novel to my taste buds.

Subscription Options:

Both TokyoTreat and Sakuraco boxes can be had for as low as $32.50/month, but if you're not ready for that kind of commitment, 6, 3, and 1-month options are also available. For gifts, I like to give the 3-month subscription because you get to see how the snacks rotate through the seasons and your recipient gets to reminded of your great gift-giving skills 3 different times.

Compared to other subscription boxes I've tried, both TokyoTreat and Sakuraco go an extra mile by providing a little booklet describing the goods inside and share holiday or seasonal travel guides based on the theme of the month. There might be 2-4 fewer overall snacks inside but I also appreciate the price point being lower than competitors. It's a fair tradeoff and I think you get 95% of the joy.

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Sakuraco and TokyoTreat offer different vibes of subscription boxes filled with a variety of treats and Japanese lore for you to eat your way through every Japanese season
Highlight: Sakuraco snacks
Price per box: Starting from $32.50 USD a month for 12 months

To order your own Sakuraco or TokyoTreat box, head on over to the links below: