Sakuraco Review in 2024: Premium Japanese Snack Box Subscription

It has been several months since I left Tokyo after staying for two months during the holiday season. I’ve missed life in Japan so much, especially the quality of food and delicious snacks that were so accessible to us daily during our stay.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to return this year as I have a lot of things happening in my personal life. So when I had the opportunity to try Sakuraco, a premium Japanese snack box subscription, I immediately jumped on it. If I can’t go to Japan, at least this box will bring Japan closer to me! 🥰

This post will cover my experience and review of the latest Sakuraco box.

• What is Sakuraco and how does it work?
• The Sakuraco Box
• This month’s Japanese Home Good
• The Snack Guide
• The Snacks Review

What is Sakuraco and how does it work?

Sakuraco is a premium Japanese snack box subscription service. When you sign up, you’ll receive a mystery box containing dozens of snacks sourced from Japan, sent directly to your door step every month. The theme of the box changes each month. You can view the past boxes here to get an idea how they look like.

🎁 Purchase your Sakuraco subscription here. Use code GIRLEATWORLD for an additional $5 discount on checkout!

Please note that the shipping fee is not included in the subscription price. The fee depends on where you are sending the box, but it ranges from US$10.50 to US$12.50. Click here to see their shipping costs.

It is a steep price, but the box are sent internationally from their warehouse Japan. The delivery timing varies depending on the country. When I received my box in Singapore, it was shipped via DHL Express. The box arrived within two days after I received the first shipping notification. However when I sent the box to my friend in United States, it took 16 days (including weekends) to arrive via USPS.

In both cases, the box was delivered safely in pristine condition without any dents. This is key if you plan to send the box as a gift to your loved ones!

What’s Inside The Sakuraco Box

This month’s (September 2024) theme is Tsukimi. Tsukimi, the moon viewing festival similar to the Mid-Autumn festival, is a prominent festival in Japan that happens every September – so much so that there is an entire emoji dedicated just for Tsukimi 🎑

This month’s Sakuraco box features a rabbit on the moon. In Japanese traditional folklore, it is believed that a rabbit lives on the moon (Tsuki no Usagi, literally translated as Moon Rabbit) and that during Tsukimi, they can be seen pounding mochi on the surface of the moon. Thus you’ll often see rabbit-themed goods across Japan in September.

Inside the box, you’ll find a welcome postcard from Sakuraco’s founder Ayumi Chikamoto, as well as this month’s snack guide, and of course, all the snack!

The Culture and Snack Guide

With each box, there is a culture and snack guide provided so you won’t be left guessing what snack you’ve just had. The guide will also explain the theme of the month, which I find very educational. Although I knew about the tale of Princess Kaguya before, I still enjoyed reading it.

The first thing I noticed about the guide is that it reads right to left, just like how a book is read in Japan. I thought it was such a nice touch!

I also appreciate that while the snack guide uses a nice stylized photo of the snack, it still includes a picture of the packaging as well, which leaves no room for doubt about which snack you are having.

This Month’s Japanese Home Good

Sakuraco box also contains one Japanese home good per month. This could be ceramic plates, chopsticks, or even furoshiki cloth which are typically used to wrap bentos.

I squealed when I saw this month’s home good. It’s a small ceramic plate – and it’s perfect for all the snacks we have just received!

The plate is adorned with the same Tsukimi theme we see on the box. But it’s not just a boring flat plate – it’s glazed such that the moon part is matte while the rest of the plate is glossy. Love the details!

Review of the snacks

This month’s box contained 14 types of snacks. I won’t review all of them because that would make this post unbearably long, but I will highlight a few that stood out to me:

1. Kinako Mochi

Mochi is one of my favorite Japanese delicacy, made from glutinous rice pounded repeatedly until it forms a sticky soft rice cake. Kinako is powdered roasted soy beans – used to coat the mochi, it gives a nutty, slighly savory taste. Inside the mochi is filled with brown sugar, which balances the taste of this snack. It’s neither too sweet or too savory.

2. Kodaimai Senbei

Senbei is a type of cracker made from rice commonly found in Japan. There is both sweet and savory version of senbei, and this one is a savory kind. To be honest, I did not expect to like this senbei as much as I did. But what’s not to like? This senbei is cripsy and very aromatic thanks to the addition of roasted black sesame. I would buy this on its own.

3. Lemon Baked Chocolate

I had this before reading the snack guide and from the shape I thought this was a mini cupcake, but it’s baked chocolate! I love the texture of this – it was crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

4. Chestnut Dorayaki

Dorayaki is yet another one of my favorite Japanese snack. While the typical dorayaki usually only filled with red beans, this one has roasted chestnut added to it. Chestnut is a quintessential part of Autumn in Japan, usually in season only for a short period of time from September to October.

In Conclusion

I was very happy with my Sakuraco experience. Not only were the snacks delicious, but the whole box felt premium. The snack guides were beautifully put together, and the inclusion of home goods was also a nice touch. Simply put, unboxing the goodies brought me joy.

I liked it so much that I’ve gifted my best friend the same box. She lives on the other side of the world from me, and the Sakuraco box was a convenient and thoughtful way for me to send her a surprise treat.

Please remember that because Sakuraco is a subscription, you’ll need to cancel it if you don’t want it to extend beyond the 1, 3, 6, or 12-month plan that you’ve purchased. And make sure you do so before the next payment date! Otherwise, you’ll be charged an entire new subscription cycle- if you had signed up for a 3-month subscription, you’d be charged another 3 months.

Canceling is very easy – you just need to log in to your account and click on the “Cancel Subscription” link from the subscription status page. Here is Sakuraco’s official instruction on how to cancel.

Alright, that’s my experience with Sakuraco box. If you find it useful and want to purchase or gift a box, please use my code below. If you have any other questions, please feel free to comment below!

🎁 Purchase your Sakuraco subscription here. You can use code GIRLEATWORLD for an additional $5 discount on checkout.

Note: I was sent a complimentary box of Sakuraco for the purposes of writing this review. However, I have also purchased a box on my own dime to gift to my friend. As always, all thoughts and opinions remain my own.