Japanese subscription box: Sakuraco

A look inside Sakuraco, a Japanese subscription box:

I have a fun Japanese subscription box to share with you all today! Like last month’s Tokyo Treat box, this one is also full of Japanese goodies. While it’s not directly Disney related, if you’ve been to the Japan pavilion in Epcot you know the excitement of exploring all the fun treats they have.

While Sakuraco offers a number of tasty items straight from Japan, just like Tokyo Treat, I would say the main difference is this one feels a little more “adult.” Tokyo Treat is fun, and great for kids, but if you’re not necessarily looking for candy you might want another option. That’s where Sakuraco comes in.

What’s inside this Japanese subscription box?

The main focus of your Sakuraco box is snacks, of course! I found most of what was in this box was along the lines of crackers, cakes, etc. They leaned more into the savory side of snacking, though there were some good sweet treats as well.

In addition to snacks, you also get tea and home goods. The items are all locally sourced and sent directly from Japan. Almost everything in this box was something I hadn’t tried before. I loved the uniqueness of it!

Jason helped take on the job of snack sampling to bring another perspective on each of the items we tried. This ended up being a good thing, as we had some varying opinions on several of the snacks we tried! It just goes to show that everyone’s tastes are different.

So let’s take a look:

Chestnut shiruko sando – these were buttery crackers with a chestnut and red bean paste in the middle. The booklet says it was inspired by shiruko, a sweet red bean soup. I really liked these and thought they made a great little afternoon snack with a cup of tea. The buttery cracker flavor is more prominent than the paste, but that still added something.

Autumn Sencha – this was a green herbal tea that was very light. I would say it was almost bordering on bland, but it might be that I should have let it steep longer. The flavor was very pleasant though and I don’t mind a more mild tea.

Uni Okaki Senbei – basically this is a rice cake that’s been fried and seasoned with sea urchin paste. It was very crispy and I thought soy sauce forward. It tasted similar to other crunchy and salty Japanese snacks, and honestly those are some of my favorite kind of snacks. Jason found it to be “extremely snackable.” I does have a very slight seafood taste to it due to the sea urchin paste

Nikko yuba chips – This might have been the least favorite in the box between the two of us. I thought they were just okay, and Jason really did not care for them at all. They are, basically, tofu chips seasoned with salt and pepper. I would say it was an unusual taste, and the pepper was a bit strong for me.

Nikko Jingoro Senei – another type of rice cracker, these were a bit more mild thatn the uni okaki senbei. They were still nice and crunchy, with just a hint of sweetness (maybe sesame?)

Strawberry jelly – sometimes the texture of something is just off, no matter the taste, and that was the case here. It felt like this should be jello, but the consistency was much more liquid-y. But it didn’t really taste or seem like a true jelly or jam either.

Apple sweet potato cake – the jury was split on this one! It was definitely full of flavor and was a powerful combination of apple and sweet potato. It was just not for me – I found it to be a bit too sweet. But it was one of Jason’s favorites in the box!

Neko furoshiki – this cotton tea cloth was the home good we got in this box, and it’s so cute! It’s covered with “meneki-neko,” which are cats. And we are a cat family here!

Walnut mochi – I personally thought there was not a ton of flavor with this mochi, but the actual walnut bits added a fun texture. Overall I prefer sweet mochi. Jason really liked this one though. He described it as a “weird and unique texture” and enjoyed the flavor a lot.

Momiji Manju – this is what they call a “cake” filled with red bean paste. The texture is more like a sponge cake and very soft. I thought this had a really nice sweetness to it without feeling sugary. Jason declared “cakey things are not my favorite,” so it was not his favorite..

Strawberry Anko Donuts – these were small little bites that were sweet and had a nice strawberry flavor to them. They were definitely more of the “Cakey” texture that Jason doesn’t care for though.

Autumn arare – a mix of rice crackers with an autumn theme. To be honest, I thought most of them were really much flavor, but they had a nice crunch and saltiness to them. According to the booklet, the flavors included soy sauce, shrimp, and seaweed. Those flavors were definitely subtle.

Miso peanuts – these were really good and reminded me of honey-roasted peanuts, but not as sweet. Nice and salty and something I think I could easily snack on (and probably end up eating way too many!).

Sweet potato yokan – Yokan is a pretty unique Japanese dessert, and the texture is hard to describe if you haven’t tried it. It’s probably closest to a gelatin, but still not quite the same. I actually didn’t taste much of the sweet potato here.

Sweet potato sable – this is a cookie with flavors of sweet potato and sesame, and both of us really enjoyed it. It was really good combo that I’d not had before, and the crunch of the cookie was excellent. Possibly my favorite snack in the box.

Sakuraco Box or Tokyo Treat?

Both are great options if you want some fun and unique Japanese snacks to try! So which one should you subscribe to (assuming you won’t do both, of course!). Now that I’ve tried them both, I’m happy to share my thoughts.

You should consider the Sakuraco Box if you:

• Prefer crackers, chips, and cakes
• Like the idea of getting a home good item in addition to snacks
• Enjoy tea and want to try some Japanese tea with your treats
• Want to learn more about Japanese culture and places within the country
• Appreciate authentic, artisan goods

You should consider the Tokyo Treat box if you:

• Want to try different types of candy and more sweet treats
• Have kids at home who might want to share your box
• Like trendy snacks and cute characters
• Have no need for home goods and/or tea, and just want to focus on the snacks

Would you want to try a Japanese subscription box? Which item do you think you would like the best from this Tokyo Treat box?