Review of SAKURACO: A Box Full of Authentic and Traditional Treats From Japan

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Japan is a country famous for its culture, food, and the politest of people. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be reached out by someone from SAKURACO, a company from Japan. This company has an interesting concept, where they allow you to subscribe to their monthly treat boxes, and they send you handpicked snacks, which are traditionally from Japan. Each month with a specific theme. Our friend from Japan sent us the January edition of their SakuraCo Box.

In this article, I will let you know in detail, my experience and if or not, you should get one for yourself a Sakuraco box too. But before I do that let’s look at their website and see what they have to offer and their pricing structure. As soon as you go to SakuraCo’s website(sakura.co), you can feel the authentic Japanese vibe.

Sakuraco selects 18-24 Japanese sweets and snacks in accordance with the theme of the month and get them delivered to you, anywhere in the world. They claim, the company works with many family-owned shops in Japan to source these refreshments. I was a little skeptical about this claim initially but after I experienced the treats first-hand, I can trust them enough to say that the treats were not something made in bulk in some maga-factory. They just taste authentic.

Price and Subscriptions

Let’s look at their pricing structure. I thought their pricing was on the steeper side and was designed keeping in mind the spending habits of most western countries. Though, I guess authenticity and true experience comes at a cost. Opinions here will vary greatly from country to country.

Just a piece of advice, do look up any custom duties or taxes that may be applicable to imported products in accordance with your regional tax laws(if there are any). This way you may be able to accurately calculate what you will be paying in total. Below is their monthly pricing chart(as on 02/01/2023).

Subscription Period Price/Month Total Price You Save
12 Months $32.50 $390.00 You Save $60
6 Months $33.50 $201.00 You Save $24
3 Months $35.50 $106.50 You Save $6
1 Month $37.50 $37.50 You Save $0

 

The guys at SakuraCo were kind enough to give us a promo code. You can use the code “NEWSFETCHER” and have $5 off on your first order.

What happens once you have taken the subscription? Well, you wait for the boxes for the month to be out which usually happens between the 10th and 15th of any respective month. Now the actual delivery time may vary from location to location. It took us about 10 days to reach. Though, I would have to mention here, that I was at a fairly remote location in India when I received the box. To be honest, if the guys at SakuraCo were able to deliver the treat box to me, I am supremely certain, the box will reach you anywhere on this planet.

Pro-tip and this is for anything you want to import, especially if you are doing it in India, have a document to verify your address in hand, you may need it for the delivery.

With the logistics out of the way let’s jump to the unboxing and review. We got their January Treat Box. This was their 23rd Volume and the theme was New Year’s in Niigata. Niigata is home to some of the snowiest towns in Japan. They give a booklet in the box which has dietary and cultural details of every treat that’s included. Let’s take a look at some of them.

  • Genmai Black Bean Houjicha
    Place of origin: Shikouen(Niigata)

tea sakura co

The first thing that came to my mind when preparing this drink was, it is soy and black beans-based tea. It tasted like beans. I didn’t add anything other than what the box gave and it tasted presently different from anything I had tasted before.

  • Matcha Anko Dorayaki
    Place of origin: Kimura(Kumamota)

Doracake

Dora cake. Every kid who has seen Doraemon has seen this dish, and I can proudly say I have tasted it too. It tastes sweet. It’s two fluffy pancake-like layers with Matcha bean paste filling. It was surprisingly fulfilling. It’s a vegetarian-friendly dish and I think I could eat it for breakfast every day.

  • Brown Sugar Karinto
    Place of origin: Natsume Confectionery(Aichi)

brown sugar sticks

This dish was probably the sweetest thing I had this month. Edible and Crunchy Wheat sticks covered with brown sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, a few of these may be the thing you might be looking for. We have something similar to this in India, but we use jaggery in place of brown sugar.

  • Negi Miso Senbei
    Place of origin: Kiyonoya(Niigata)

Rice cracker

To put it simply these were rice crackers. But you could taste Japan and its spices in each bite. The soy-based coating on top of the cracker made it one of the best treats in the box. It does say it has Shrimp and Crab, so it may not be for everyone.

  • Ajigonomi
    Place of Origin: Bourbon(Niigata)

Now, this was a strange one. It had a mix of bite-sized treats and it had Anchovies in a snack pack. It’s not common to see Anchovies in packets at places where I live so I was a little surprised. The rice cracker and the bean/Spice covered nuts were delightful but I just couldn’t get along with the Anchovies.

  • Bakauke Sesame Rice Crackers
    Place of origin: Kuriyama Beika(Niigata)

rice cracker tastty jp

The best thing in the box.  These rice crackers were simply delicious. Again, you could taste Japan and its food culture in every bite. Though the pack was decently sized I wish I had a few hundred more of them.

  • Echigohime Strawberry Crape
    Place of origin: Kikuya(Niigata)

At the first glance, you will surely think its yellow color has something to do with bananas. But it tastes exactly like its name, Strawberries. It was a fulfilling treat.

  • Snow Rabbit Soft Chew
    Place of origin: Ishizuka Confectionery(Kyoto)

They were super sweet soft candy. 2023 is the year of Rabbits and I saved this one for new years eve. They are candies that every kid wants with them all the time.

  • Fortune Cookies
    Place of origin: Seki Confectionery(Kyoto)

fortune coockie

Okay, so I never had a Fortune Cookie in my life and this was the first one. Though I will not be telling you what was in the strip inside the fortune cookie, I will tell you, the experience was worth the wait. And yeah, you will need Google translate to read the fortune if you don’t know Japanese.

  • Huoroku Mochi
    Place of origin: Seika Foods(Kagoshima)

matcha

These were bean-based sweet chewy treats. The fun part about this is you can eat the wrapper too. It was again a taste absolutely unknown to me.

There were a few more delicious treats in the box and you can read about them on SakuraCo’s Website, and they also have the list of treats that are going to be there in their February box.

Should you buy a SakuraCo Box?

If you want to experience authentic Japanese treats and have a few bucks to spare, yes, it is for you. It is not going to be a full-course meal or even qualify as breakfast. But it can be a fun evening of trying out new things with your loved ones, sitting at home. I see this more as a gifting item, especially for someone who wants to experience Japan and it’s culture. You can use the code NEWSFETCHER to get a $5 discount in case you decide to buy a box.

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