Earlier this week I received my very first Japan Crate. Yay!!! I ordered it back in March and had been awaiting its arrival with eager anticipation for weeks. What is Japan Crate? It’s a monthly subscription service that provides subscribers with a generous assortment of Japanese candy delivered right to their doors. Or, as the official website puts it, “Crazy Japanese Candy, Hand Selected, Starting from $12/Month.” There are three different subscription levels: Mini ($12/month), Original ($25/month), and Premium ($30/month). Of course, crazy otaku that I am, I had to get the premium subscription.
Now, I’ve had Japanese snacks before. I’ve eaten various kinds of Pocky and have
hoarded Ramune soda in my fridge for months (okay, years) at a time. But that’s pretty much been my limit. Oh, except for the Panda cookies I had to
give up after watching Episode 25 of Death Note. (They were just too depressing to eat after
that. I couldn’t eat them without
thinking of L.) So, I went into this
little experiment knowing I would enjoy it, but having little idea of what
to expect. And now that I have sampled
every last item in my box (As evidenced by the above picture. Everything is open and nearly gone.), I can say I was not disappointed.
Each Japan Crate box comes with a full-color, laminated card
featuring a comic on one side and an itemization of the included snacks on the
other. Each month, subscribers are sent a new assortment of mystery items. I have scanned the list for the April 2015 box and broken it down for illustrative purposes below. Please read the item description before the review.
