ZenPop "Peach Festa Pack" box unboxing

I didn't expect to be doing two Zenpop "unboxing" posts in a row. In fact, I expected to review the items in the previous box. I have a good excuse. No, really, I do. If you don't think what I have to say is a sufficient reason, then you haven't had my misfortune. My excuse is, in three little words, "grand jury duty."

If you've never been selected for this honor, then let me say that I was fortunate that my term is shorter than some, and it's still longer than regular jury duty by far. I'm on the hook for random service for three months and each day that I do it is like an exhausting day on the job with no down time because there's no taking a break to look at your cell phone (not that I have one of those, I don't) or browse the web.

I hope to do better reviewing the items in this box, but I can barely cook my own dinner when I'm on duty, let alone ponder writing things. Still, my fingers are crossed and I'm going to push harder to squeeze in some reviews because I was pretty damn excited about this box when I saw what was inside.

As I've said before, I consider ZenPop to be one of the best value snack boxes out there for Japanese goodies. They packed this one super full and even managed to include two drink options which was suprising and welcome. Of course, the way to my heart was swiftly found with the inclusion of kinako wafers. I literally cuddled them to my chest when I found the package.

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In terms of the contents, it's detailed in the included packaging, but I'll briefly talk about them in groups by type here:

Kids snacks (dagashi):

Anpanman choco: While this looks like a lollipop, it's really chocolate on a stick featuring the familiar face of Anpanman. In the U.S., we would call him "Bread Head," and he'd be a candidate for a villain in the old Tick animated series.

Long Marshmallow: I've already got my speculation about how this is going to taste. Japanese marshmallows are quite different from American ones both in texture and in taste. They tend to be more "gummy" and chewy rather than soft and pillowy.

Dorayaki Choco: This is a shelf-stable, kid's sized version of the venerable Japanese snack which is like two pancakes with filling. Usually, these are filled with red beans, but these have chocolate which I'm betting will make them a bit sweeter.

Choco Stick: I reviewed several things called "Choco Stick" before and this one comes closest to this one. However, it doesn't look like it's actually a corn snack dipped in chocolate, but rather a corn snack made from the ground up with chocolate.

Peach gum: The description of this recommends putting all three pieces in your mouth at once and trying to blow a big bubble. I'm saying right now that that is what I'm going to do, but not because I do what I'm told. I'm going to do it because gum is too tiny these days and you need at least two pieces to satisfy my big mouth and there's no point in leaving that one little bit an orphan.

Drinks:

Konjac Jelly Peach: Technically, this isn't a drink, but a liquid jelly that you suck out through a spout in the top. I'm guessing this is what Japanese astronauts eat in spring.

Peach Drink: This is technically a "dagashi" (kid's snack) and I do recall seeing this type of thing sold in Japan, especially in summer, but I never tried one during all of my years there.

Salty Snacks:

Poteko Cherry Blossom salt flavor: Poteko are super crunchy potato rings and I reviewed the regular (salt) flavor before. I have no idea how you flavor salt with cherry blossom, but I guess I'll find out.

Curry Arare Sembei: These are an old-fashioned type of rice crackers that are easy to find in most stores in Japan. While this is also mentioned as dagashi, I think this is also within the range of otsumami, or snacks to be eaten with alcoholic drinks. I'm guessing this will be more about the crunch than the flavor. If these are dagashi, they won't have as strong flavors as adult-oriented rice crackers.

Edamame Sticks: This is a bona fide otsumami snack which looks like it's a version of the same pretzels that are used on things like Pocky.

Otsumami Mix (mixed rice crackers): After the kinako wafers, this was the item I was happiest to see, but I'm a sucker for sembei.

Natural Calbee Sea Salt Chips: Though these have a relatively common flavor, they're supposed to be thicker than usual chips. That would make them similar to some Kettle brand chips. I'm guessing that they will be one of the less unique and underwhelming experiences in the box. Japanese chips usually have a fresh flavor compared to Western ones, but they aren't likely to be so different.

Sweets:

Petit Kinako Wafers: I've reviewed this product before and loved it to pieces. The Bourbon brand of petit snacks is often carried at Japanese markets and import stores in the U.S., but these have never been there when I've patronized one. So, they're one of those flavors that someone seems to have decided aren't going to sell in America, much to my chagrine. And, yes, I tried these already (again) and they are nearly the same as I remember except that they are less messy. Unfortunately, the exterior isn't coated in kinako powder so it takes longer for the flavor profile of the toasted soy bean to hit your tongue. Still, they're very tasty.

Gelee Pure Peach gummies: I've had a lot of Pure gummies and they are really hit or miss. The best ones are amazing. The worst ones are gross and hard to finish. We'll see how these are.

Peach Gummy Candy: This is Meiji's version of gummies (the previous ones are made by Kanro). I have less experience with these. I hope to review these two snacks mano a mano.

I think this is a pretty respectable assortment with something to offer everyone and a good focus on the seasonal flavor of peach. I can't promise to review them all, but I do promise to get to some of them despite jury duty. :-p Thanks for your patience!

ZenPop Sweets "Red and White" Box (Unboxing)

In the first few years after I returned to the U.S., I took my sister-in-law to the "Daiso Japan" shops in the Bay Area. The Daiso is a hundred yen (dollar) store in Japan and other parts of Asia, but most things are a $1.50 in the U.S. When my sister-in-law remarked on Facebook that it was so cheap and had a lot of interesting items, someone who had lived in Japan for a long time scoffed and remarked that those things where 50% less in Japan. The implication was that that was no deal.

My feeling about this response was, "Are you new?" This person had lived in Japan for longer than me and should have known better. You can't compare prices in one country in which a product is originally distributed to those in a country that they're exported to. We believed we were very lucky if we could get goods from the U.S. at Costco Japan or the Foreign Buyer's Club for a mere 50% mark-up. If it was less than that, it was a rare and enormously special deal. Usually, we were just glad that something from home was available at all.

If you are looking for Japanese snacks, the main thing you want is to get things that you can't get locally, and, yes, there will be a mark-up to pay the people who do this business for their time. This is my second unboxing of a ZenPop box. In my first, I focussed on the service itself and it's value in a very granular way. You can see that overview here. The bottom line is that I think their contents represent one of the best values in subscription boxes that you can get at present and that the mark-up on items to pay for their efforts is likely between 40-50% (I'm not including shipping and packaging costs in that estimate). It's not nearly as cheap as if you lived in Japan and could buy these things for yourself, but, if you need someone to go to the trouble of shopping, assembling, packing, and mailing it to you, you can't really do better.

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Since I already did a lengthy post about the service, I see no reason to repeat that here and am going to just focus on the contents. The box is called the "kouhaku" (red and white) box because the snacks follow a theme in terms of the colors of the items. This is quite appropriate for this time of year in Japan because it's nearly Valentine's Day and winter and spring are popular times for strawberry-flavored snacks to make their appearance. It'll also straddle the companion holiday for Valentine's Day in Japan ("White Day") which comes in March.

Keep in mind that you don't need me to explain these things. There is a color page with explanations in the box, but I can at least add some context and my own subjective feelings about these products in thumbnail format. I will be reviewing some of these items on their own in future posts.

In the box, we have a good selection of both the red and the white. There is also one small "wild card" item which is really not in alignment with either of these which I'll get to last. I'll start with the longer list which includes the red:

Tyrant Habanero Savory Bacon Flavor - I'm a huge fan of the "Tyrant Habanero" line of products because of their strong heat and savory notes. This one is, oddly, not listed on the Tohato web site at present, but that makes it no less welcome. You can always tell this product line because of the evil hot-pepper-o-lantern on the bag. The five peppers reveal that this is one of the hotter products in their line-up. I've reviewed these items no small number of times in the past.

Ichimi Sembei - I am a sucker for the old-fashioned enormous rice crackers that you can get as souvenirs in Japan. I'll admit that even though this isn't as flashy or as approachable to Western palates as the rest of the box, this is the thing I was happiest to see included. This has togarashi, a spicy capsicum which is often ground and placed on tables in Japanese restaurants which offer dishes that can benefit from their addition. It's similar to the way red pepper flakes show up in Italian restaurants or pizza places in the U.S.

Harvest Choco Sand Strawberry Milk - In the last box that I received from ZenPop, I got the mont blanc flavor of this snack and was disappointed because there was a coconut back-drop that dominated. I'm hoping these will be better, but I'm pessimisstic. The Harvest biscuit line always has a strong coconut flavor and I can only hope that it pairs better with strawberry filling than the fake-tasting mont blanc of the previous offering.

Nissin Crisp Choco Strawberry - I know Nissin mainly for it's savory meal offers including instant noodles. I used to see these snacks, which I regard as sort of a "Choco Flake" pie/pizza, but never bought one due to the larger footprint. I always liked "Choco Flake", which is chocolate-covered cornflakes, so I'm looking forward to trying this.

Bourbon Petit Strawberry Langues de Chat - Langues de Chat are like a Milano cookie on a diet - thing, crispy, delicate cookies with a candy-like choclate filling. Bourbon's version in these long tube-like packages is a baby version of the slimmed down Milano.

Meito Puku Puku Tai Strawberry - This is one of a handful of kid's snacks in the box. "Puku puku" means bubbling or puffy (among other things) and refers to the foamy, whipped center of the cake-cone-style "fish's" filling. The outer shell, a monaka, is generally pretty tasteless and mainly lends texture. I'm expecting this to be more of a textural delight than a flavor one. Chances are the filling will be pretty sweet and the shell quite bland so it should be interesting to try.

Chocolate Veil Strawberry - These are a new product to me in terms of the brand name, and it looks very interesting in terms of the construction. The outside looks like a thing, crispy shell and has a softer, whipped-looking filling. I don't know if this is new or if it's just that I haven't lived in Japan for six years now, but I am looking forward to something different.

Cororo Strawberry Gummy - The picture of these on the package is odd. They look really round and slightly puckered and bring to mind umeboshi. The description in ZenPop's flyer says they are like grapes. This would be something new as I don't recall ever seeing this type of gummy when I lived in Japan before.

White Items:

Alfort Vanilla White candy/cookies - Alfort occupies an interesting space in the Japanese snack world. It looks like a candy on the front with a solid slab of chocolate and a cookie on the back with a full tiny biscuit perfectly embedded in it. In the past, I reviewed the green tea version and really liked them. I've already sampled these and they are like cookies and cream in the overall flavor profile. The white chocolate is much better balanced than most as it is not cloyingly sweet. They are delicious. It's too bad that the Alfort brand isn't available in the U.S. as it's a more elegant sort of candy and is in individual pieces for good portion control.

Blanchul Hokkaido Milk cookies - These look like langue de chat by another name to me. I reviewed a mont blanc (chestnut) version of these previously and loved them.

Baby Star Shio (Salt) and Baby Star Chicken (2 separate packets) - I have to admit that these are the two things I'm the least interested in. Though I have reviewed Baby Star ramen snacks before, and at least liked them a bit, I have to say that I've never felt that I was eatier junkier junk food than when I tried ramen salted snacks. They tend toward being very salty, crunchy, and carby in a way that makes me feel even guiltier than if I were eating corn or potato snacks.

Yogurt-flavored White Caburi-Chew - This one is completely new to me in that I not only have never tried this brand, but I've never seen it. We'll see if I get to keep my fillings. I am happy for a yogurt-flavored item in the mix though. It's a flavor that is less commonly represented in snack boxes.

Sapporo Potato Vegetable - Though I wasn't disappointed to find this included, it's also one of the easiest imports that you can locate in Asian and import markets. Also, my previous experience with a "pebbly" (tsubu tsubu) variety was not encouraging so I'll have to see if this is better.

Nori Okaki & Peanuts - Along with the big, spicy sembei cracker, this was something else I was delighted to have included. It's produced by my favorite rice cracker manufacturer in Japan - and, yes, I know it's weird to have a favorite sembei brand - so I have high expectations.

And, the wild card is: Mikan Mochi. It's included in the "White" section because mochi is usually white, but these are tiny little orange blobs that you poke with a toothpick to pick up and eat. This is also a new item to me (and a kid's snack) so it should be interesting.

I'll be reviewing as much of these items as I can, though I do have a tendency to eat them up faster than I can write reviews.

I have to say that I'm pleased with the overall mix of salty and sweet as well as the textural variations and the "modern" (e.g., chocolates and cookies) and the "traditional" (e.g., sembei). Though I can't say this would be the mix I'd perfectly pick if I was buying for my tastes and mine alone, I think it's a good sampler pack for someone who isn't me (and I'm not narcissistic enough to think everything should revolve around my tastes.

I'll note that I got an e-mail yesterday and ZenPop is offering a discount if you'd like to give their service a try. This is the graphic that was included in the message I received which details the promotion and the code you can use:

Note: I am not promoting ZenPop, though they did provide me with a free sample box for review purposes.

Bokksu Premium (Unboxing and Service Review)

During my earlier years in the U.S., one of my friends kindly purchased me a three-month subscription to "Try the World." I am interested in cooking and even started a blog which I infrequently update about new recipes that I've tried so this was a great fit for my interests. I ended up buying my own subscription for a further year, but abandoned it when the service seemed to degrade somewhat and the selection became a bit repetitive on the theme boxes.

However, I did love the boxes and their presentation. They came in cleanly designed boxes with a card describing all of the contents and were full of beautifully packaged items. The experience was one of culture rather than simply a box full of food and it was the manner in which they were curated rather than gathered that made a difference. I mention this because Bokksu is either made by the same people or follows the same concept to a "t".

When rating Bokksu's service, I believe it's important to rate it as much as an experience as it is to look at the contents. When you get the simple cardboard outer box and open it to find a bright orange custom-made box with a wide white ribbon around it to make pulling it out of the outer box easy and elegant, you get a taste of Japan before you sample any of the food contained inside. It is a lush and gorgeous experience and feels like a classy gift. It is exactly the sort of thing you would experience in Japan in terms of the packaging and the presentation.

As is the case with "Try the World", you get a card telling you what all of the items are. Depending on your background, this can be considered a real aid in understanding what is in the box (if you can't read any Japanese and have limited experience) or it can just be a memento that you hold onto for the future to remind you of what you got in past boxes once the food is long gone. The card is professionally laid out and printed on firm card stock. Everything about Bokksu is a class act including the choice of items.

I will admit that I was going to wait to try another service until I'd completed the Oyatsu service's boxes including reviewing the food I got in them. However, I subscribed to Bokksu's mailings and they mentioned that they were doing a "summer citrus" box with a focus on yuzu. Yuzu is Asian citron, a lemon/grapefruit/orange hybrid sort of thing which is fragrant and less sour than it's Western equivalents. Since I adore yuzu-flavored anything, I couldn't resist getting a box while the yuzu getting was good.

Part of the Bokksu experience is that they curate the choices around a tea pairing. My box came with 3 packets of tea, 2 donuts, 3 "pies" (more on those when they are reviewed), 3 sembei, 2 daifuku, 3 rusks, a box of Pocky and a container of Calbee's salted snack straws. I will be reviewing all of these foods in future posts, but I'll say that the assortment was a solid one except for the Rusks which don't fit the theme at all as they are Earl-Grey-tea-flavored. They were a strange choice, but the rest were great.

For a one month purchase of a Bokksu Premium, this cost $39 and includes three-day shipping from the source. Mailings are made at regular intervals so you don't get it within three days of ordering, but within three days of when boxes are sent out. This means that, if they send chocolates which can melt, you'll get things quickly. This is different from some other subscription services which use much cheaper services like seamail or SAL to save money.

I will note that you can get a pretty decent discount on Bokksu if you buy a year's worth at once. They are only $33 per box if you pay for the whole year and I was sorely tempted as I really loved how this looks and I especially love the type of contents I got. The things I got in Bokksu were commonly distributed in my office as part of summer and winter gifts. Several are items often sold only as parts of gift boxes in department stores and you can't find them in average markets, convenience stores, or snack shops. As food boxes go, Bokksu is sending items that few other Japanese snack and food box services will give you. That is no small thing.

However, Bokksu is providing premium content at a premium price. If I'm to be utterly generous in my assessment of the cost of the included items if I were to buy them in Tokyo, it'd be topping out at $15. I'm likely estimating that pretty high so that means less than half of your cost for a $39 box is being spent on the included food. A whopping $24 would be going toward the labor and costs. As I said, this is a beautiful box with likely pricey packaging and the lovely card which I'm sure is not cheap to print, but even if you allow for $1-$2 for the box and a similar generous allowance for the card plus ribbon, that's about $20 for labor in assembling the box, crafting the card, and arranging the contents (by shopping or other means). It wouldn't take many subscribers for that to be a very cushy per hour rate.

Part of the problem with a premium box is that the bar is raised on content not only in terms of quality, but quantity. Like "Try the World", the amount of food you get in Bokksu is limited by their custom box size. You know you're never going to get more than they can cram in there and, though it's expertly packed to fit in as much as possible, I think I should get a bit more for the cost. If I could get a yearly subscription for an average of $25/box, I'd do it without hesitation. I'm very much on the fence for $33 and I'm absolutely not going to continue for a monthly fee of $39.

I should note that Bokksu also offers a "tasting" box for $19 as a single box purchase (that drops to $16 if you pay for a whole year at once) and I'm going to review that option in the future. It is more oriented toward small snacks and similar to the Oyatsu Dagashi box that I reviewed previously.

The web site for Bokksu is very well done and allows you a high degree of flexibility with your ordering. You can, for example, buy a one-box subscription and choose to skip as many months as you want. You can cancel or restart a subscription and you can change from monthly to other types of subscriptions with ease. I am always impressed when a service will let you cancel with ease from their web site rather than make it byzantine and difficult. To me, this is a sign of integrity. Bokksu goes one further by asking you why you are leaving so you can tell them what is wrong or right witht he service. This also gains them points in my book.

My conclusions about Bokksu are:

Service: Amazing
Value: (borderline) Inadequate (depends on subscription plan)
Experience: Amazing

Worth it? It's not worth it as a single box purchase. It's borderline worth it for an annual subscription rate depending on what sort of snacks you'd like to get and how much you value the elegance and curated experience. I expect that, once I have sampled a broader array of Japanese food boxes, I'll come back to Bokksu and take a good, hard look at the annual fees and contents and contemplate making them my main supplier of food for reviews. If their price per box dropped below $30, that'd be a lock for being "worth it" for me personally.

Note: I am not promoting Bokksu. They did not provide me with any free samples. I paid as anyone else would for my subscription. They don't know I'm a Japanese food blogger or that I would be posting about them. 

Oyatsu Box Dagashi Edition (Unboxing & Service Review)

Back when I was still living in Japan, people who read this blog would occasionally ask me why I didn't start a business selling the snacks I wrote about. My answer was always that I'd done mail order before (Japanese KISS collectible items, mainly records), and it's generally not worth it for a low-value commodity like snacks. It was worth it for a high value commodity like recording collectibles because you can get some suckers to fork over $400 for a set of records which is really a pretty Japanese re-issue of music they already have.

At any rate, I am certain that, had I gone into the snack sales market, somebody "in the know" would do what I am about to do. That is, dissect the contents and the value and remark on how "worth it" it is. Before I get to that though, I'd like to say that I do understand the intangible value associated with the experience of getting these types of boxes. I currently subscribe to a quarterly subscription box from The Mysterious Package Company. It's the sort of thing which I do because it is a complete surprise and it represents enjoying the creative output of people both in the visual and literary sense.

These Japanese food boxes are part surprise, and part value of contents. Many services offer them. My intention is to shop around for what seems to be the best experience in terms of three factors:

Service: I measure this by speed, packaging sturdiness and design, response time to issues, presence of any problems, and packaging design/appearance (including how contents are arranged).

Value: This is where I look at how much each item would likely cost in Japan and how that compares to the price. I will also consider the shipping weight and expense as well as packaging costs.

Overall experience value: I would call this the overall "joy" factor. How happy am I after I open the box and survey the contents? How much fun or novelty is involved?

To be fair to the oyatsubox folks, they give you some idea of what to expect by posting the contents of past boxes on their web site. Before I orderd this, I knew it would largely consist of cheap children's snacks (or portions of multi-packs that had been broken up and distributed among multiple parties) because that is what "dagashi" means. Most of what they show from past boxes are items that would cost you 20-50 yen in Japan and mini snacks. The "Dagashi Box" subscription promises 8-12 snacks including a kit for making candy. My box had 9 items.

First of all, the concrete details. The box is sturdy enough and nicely printed with the company's name. It weighs 258 grams and was sent by the small packet rate by SAL, or so it seems based on the fact that it took a shade over 3 weeks to arrive. The company e-mails you when they ship and they ship subscriptions at the beginning of each month. I joined on April 22, 2017 and my box was shipped on May 2nd. It arrived on May 25. This is consistent with the 2-3 week time frame when using SAL. Assuming I'm right about the method of shipping, this cost 380 yen ($3.40) to ship. They say, "free shipping," but obviously somebody is paying and the cost is rolled into your subscription. I don't know what it costs for the company to have these small boxes printed up especially for them, but I'd be surprised if it was more than about 50 yen. It could easily be less.

In terms of service, the e-mail that told me when the box shipped was lost in a "promotions" tab in my gmail and I didn't find it so I contacted the company about this. They told me when the notification was sent and the date the package was sent. Their service was sufficiently prompt and polite. I will say that they have a tendency to send a lot of mailings relative to the duration of my relationship with them. They send promo coupons and advertising. It's not overbearing, but it was a little much.

Getting to the meat of things, however, the most expensive item in the box is likely the Neru Neru candy making kit. These sell for 100 yen. Everything else was definitely 20-50 yen in cost or less. A tiny mini Crunky was likely about 10 yen or less. My best guess of the total cost to the seller of all of the items in my box would be 300-400 yen (likely around 320-340 yen). That means that, if I want to be generous in my estimation, their out of pocket total was around 830 yen or $7.51. About half of your subscription fee goes to costs and about half goes to labor/profit. Of course, I'm assuming they pay retail for their snacks. They may pay wholesale.

I don't find this to be exorbitant given that I know what would have to go into making this happen. Somebody has to run the web site, maintain subscriptions, print shipping labels, assemble and pack boxes, shop for the items and sort them out, and then take the boxes to the post office or manage a pick-up with them. If they don't have a ton of subscribers, it's pretty labor-intensive for not much money. If they have a ton, then it's likely a pretty good money maker. And while I don't find it unreasonable, I will say that it's a far worse deal than if you have access to an Asian market as their mark-ups are generally no more than 50% and sometimes less. However, a market's selection would be much more restricted as well and not everyone has access to such stores.

In terms of the "joy" factor, I was pleased to see the box and relatively happy with the contents. Some of the items are ones I've had before. In fact, I reviewed the Apollo strawberry chocolate in the past, albeit in a different package. That was actually the only item I'd reviewed before, but I'd be stunned if I'd never sampled Caramel Corn or the Kokeiya corn snack during my time in a Japanese office when such snacks were regularly passed around. I will be reviewing the items in the box individually in future blog posts so I'm looking forward to that.

I can't help but think that my copious experience in Japan makes this less thrilling for me than it would be for someone who had only been there as a tourist or who had never been there at all. There is a sense of things being novel and really "cool" when you open up a package of colorful snacks with foreign characters on them that you can't understand which can't be re-experienced once you're familiar with them. I used to talk about this situationwith my students in Japan. They told me that it was interesting knowing Japan through my eyes because so much of it was so mundane to them that it was essentially invisible. Now that I'm back in the U.S. again, I understand all too well what they meant.

If I were not me, I think I'd be pretty happy with the experience of getting this for only $15 a month as a purchased "experience." That's a pretty cheap subscription rate for nearly any box you might be interested in and there are enough items to allow you to slowly consume a few items a week without running out before the next one. That being said, because this is dagashi, much of the thrill needs to be in the unusual nature as kid's snacks are notoriously not very good quality or especially tasty compared to those for the more general or adult markets. These are more vibrant and colorful, but the tastes are likely to be sweeter, saltier, and less complex than other snacks.

My only complaint is that including just one tiny Crunky and one Hello Kitty marshmallow seemed a bit too cheap. Given that these items are parts of multi-packs and likely cost so little, I think either including more of those types of items of another brand or type or putting in a couple of these snacks would have represented a more generous package without costing much more at all. It would also be better business sense in that it would allow the recipient the possibility to share these tiny snacks with others and possibly increase the chances that someone else might want to subscribe after having some small samples from a friend's box.

My plan is to see what Oyatsu Cafe has to offer for their other, more expensive box, the Oyatsu Box which promises 10-14 "full size" snacks and one vending machine toy ("gachapon") for $25. I changed over my subscription and should see that box some time in June. One of the nice things about the Oyatsu Cafe subscription access is that you can alter your type of subscription on the fly so you can switch off between types if you want to change from time to time for different experiences. You can also cancel from the account page if you'd like to stop. Their interface is clean and easy to work with and that's certainly a plus.

I can't rate services the same way I rate the snacks, so I'll just give my subjective evaluation on my three criteria.

Service: Excellent
Value: Adequate
Experience: Good

Worth it? Yes, but only if you are interested in kid's snacks for the novelty and colorful nature rather than for the quality of snacks.

Note: I am not promoting Oyatsubox. They did not provide me with any free samples. I paid as anyone else would for my subscription. They don't know I'm a Japanese food blogger or that I would be posting about them.

CandyGerman and Koala Milch Cookies

Several Asian snack concerns that offer monthly or bi-monthly boxes or snack surprise packages have contacted me and I've reviewed those services. Recently, I was contacted by a similar service coming out of Germany. Since I've expanded the scope of this blog to include the occasional focus on other countries and their junk food, I was delighted when they offered to send me a (free) sample box so that I could get an idea of their service as well as enjoy what I was sure would be German snack treat delights.

If your notions of German treats comes from The Simpsons, in which we've seen (German exchange student) Uder eating "marzipan Joy Joy (mit Iodine)", then you've got the wrong idea. Think chocolate, gummy, caramel, and sugary delights. There was no marzipan in the box (though I would have been delighted if there had been), and, most fortunately, nothing which was fortified with Iodine... that being said, I did get a goiter in Japan so maybe I could use some Iodine in my snacks.

The assortment I was sent was not only broad, but large. CandyGerman, like many such services, chooses a variety of items and sends the box to customers. You don't choose what you get, but it is a good system if you like surprises. I don't generally have access to a lot of German candy, but some of these items or ones similar to them can be purchased at places like CostPlus World Imports. It would cost me about the same as a subscription fee to CandyGerman to buy this many European snacks locally, and I wouldn't be able to get every type of food that they sent in the box (not by a long shot). So, I pronounce this a pretty good deal based on my current shopping options. Of course, any person's shopping mileage may vary. If you've got a cheap German market down the street chock full of goodies - and, if you do, I envy you - then this may not seem like such a sweet package.

I received this package soon after they said it would ship and in very good condition. As you can see by the peanuts, it's packed well. None of the fragile items that were inside (cookies) were damaged in any way. Considering that it also included wafer-based "Happy Hippo" confections and they arrived in beautiful condition, I think that their packing passes any reasonable test.

If you think I was sent a "special" package with more or better items, then you can check on what they normally send by looking at/following their Facebook page. They're relatively new, but have posted some pictures and it looks like every box is as generous as the one that I received. I should note that the people who corresponded with me were polite, friendly, and prompt. I'm confident that if you have questions or problems that they'll work with you to make you happy. Their contact information with an e-mail address is on their site.

My conclusion is that the service is not "cheap", but it's not "expensive" for what you get either. You can have a box for around the price of a couple of decent chain delivery pizzas. However, I guess whether or not that comparison makes sense to you depends on what you believe is "decent" and what part of the world/country you live in. If "Little Caesar's" $5-8 pies are what you're finding fills your belly with fun-to-eat carbs, fat, and meat-like substances, then this may seem steep to you.

Over time, I will be reviewing individual items from the box, but I wanted to start with a curious one that overlaps with a Japanese snack since that is the name of my game most of the time. I was stunned to see a box of Koala cookies which is clearly the German variation on Koala's March (as they are sold as in Japan). I've tried several takes on this cookie (Hello Panda, Pucca, and a few different flavors of Koala's March) and I can say that, hand's down, this is the one that I've liked the best. I don't speak German, but I concluded based on the taste that "milch" is "milk". Also, I'm not a total dumb ass and realized that the two words sound similar long before I opened the package.

The basic look and feel of the cookie is pretty similar to all of the copies and the original, but there is a "cookie" flavor that these have which is much more prominent. The Japanese variation has a rather bland outer shell with super sweet filling. The shell on this German variation carries a sugar-cookie-style flavor and has a sweet milky white chocolate center. I don't like Koala's March enough to buy it most of the time, but I liked these a fair bit. However, be warned that they are quite sweet. Given that they are marketed toward the child market, this is no shock.

The company that makes these is not Lotte, but Kuchenmeister. My guess is that there is some agreement between the Korean/Japanese maker and the German one to allow for the packaging and product design, but the cookies have been modified to suit German tastes. There are two flavors - milk and chocolate - and it seems that they put a toy featuring a version of their mascot inside the boxes. Mine has a vampire motif, but the current one pictured on the web site has an ancient Olympic one featuring the mascot variations in togas. If Kinder Eggs have taught us anything, it's that Europeans aren't nearly as hysterical about toys with food marketed at children as Americans are. I tend to see this as a good thing, but I didn't bother to procreate so my opinion on this matter doesn't carry a lot of weight.

The cookies definitely get a happy rating. If I weren't such a sugar wuss, they might even get a "very happy", but they're a little too sweet for my aging palate. Nonetheless, they are tasty little cookies.

CandyWarehouse (Service Review)

When I lived in Japan and needed or wanted something which was difficult or troublesome to obtain at brick and mortar shops, I'd do what we are all inclined to do in this modern age - I'd go online and search. My first stop was always Amazon Japan because they offered free shipping, delivered fast, and usually had the best prices. The problem was that they didn't always have what I was looking for. In fact, one of the little challenges of being a foreigner with foreign needs and tastes was that domestic mail order places like Rakuten, Amazon Japan, and even the FBC (Foreign Buyer's Club) frequently did not offer what I was looking for.

It was not unusual for me to search online and discover that there was a place that sold what I wanted at a great price, but that outlet only shipped within the United States. Sigh. It was like dangling a carrot in front of a hungry horse that was restrained in a stall in its stable. Yes, it's there, but you can't get to it.

On occasion, I'd get a hankering for some nostalgic snack or food. Not only that, but I'd talk about food experiences and want to share them with my students. One of my favorites when I was growing up in Pennsylvania was Mallo Cups. They are far too sweet for the Japanese market, which only likes things super sweet when they're talking about pressed sugar sweets to be consumed with green tea, it seems, so, clearly, I'd never find them in Japan even in import shops.

Even when my husband went home to visit his family in California, my desire for this old-fashioned treat could not be satisfied as they are both regional and retro. The shops he tended to visit didn't have them. The only way to get them was to buy a case from an online vendor with a large repertoire, such as the subject of today's post, CandyWarehouse.

Since I live in an area with copious numbers of Asian markets, I haven't had to turn to mail order places in order to secure reviewables. However, I am well aware that many of my readers are far less geographically fortunate than I am. When I was contacted by a representative of CandyWarehouse and offered a chance to experience their service, I took it. I did so utterly altruistically in order to tell my readers about their service and was in no way influenced by the prospect of free candy. No, I'm quite the humanitarian and labor only for the benefit of my kind and loyal readers.

Today, I'm going to review CandyWarehouse's service and I will review the two products that they sent me next week. In terms of their service, I have to say that they are utter professionals in every way. My order arrived in two days and on the hottest day of the year so far. In fact, I was worried after having made an order that included chocolate that it'd arrive in an amorphous blob. Fortunately, a free ice pack had been included and the candy arrived in good condition despite the high temperature outside of 97 degrees F. (35.6 degrees C.).

You can see by the unboxing pictures that everything was very well-packed. There was proper documentation in case of a mix-up with the order and it was well cushioned by copious amounts of paper padding. Frankly, I prefer paper to those air bag things which are so common these days, though I understand that the bags are lighter and lower shipping costs. This preference is no doubt informed by an experience I had in which my sister sent me some porcelain canisters and padded them tightly with air bags. I received a box of shards and flattened plastic bags. My faith in them is not particularly high.

I should note that CandyWarehouse is the only place that will offer you free cold packs (with expedited shipping), so, if you order chocolate in the summer, they're your only option to insure that your chocolates won't melt among the limited number of places that offer Japanese snacks. Since they operate from within the U.S., they also offer the fastest shipping to customers inside the U.S. Their nearest competitors use SAL (sea-air-land) to send snacks from Japan. This rate usually takes about two weeks whereas CandyWarehouse offers a range of services with the longest being about one week. If you want to get something fast and especially to keep it cold, they are the only option that I know of.

I'm going to review the two food items that I received next Monday and Friday, so you can look forward to hearing about them then.

KS Snacks (Service Review)

Geography has a profound impact on who we are. Many people don't realize it, but the weather not only shapes how you respond to temperature, but also affects personality. There's a reason that my husband is mellow, relaxed and tends not to worry and I'm more up-tight, organized, and fret. If you grow up in California, at least in the areas with fairly temperate weather year-round, you're not facing times of physical hardship and a concurrent economic impact.

One thing I've realized all too well is that geography has played a part in my blogging. Originally, I could do this because I lived in Japan. Now, I can do it because I live in an area with a relative plethora of Asian markets. I realize that not all readers are as geographically fortunate as me. My experiences are shaped by my access to such places. My readers may not be so lucky.

When I'm offered the chance to review a mail order service, I'm pleased to do so because I know that such places may be the only way for some of my readers to get their hands on the types of things I can take access to for granted. In this case, I'm the one in the "temperate" snack purchasing situation and they're the ones in the cold, harsh winters.

KS Snacks, an Indonesian seller of Asian snack foods, contacted me and offered to send me a package to review their food as well as their service. Of course, I happily accepted. If you look at their web site, you'll note that their prices are in Indonesian rupiah and there are some pretty big numbers. That's okay because you can easily convert to your home currency using Google's currency translation (just type "Indonesian rupiah to (your home currency)" in a search box). For reference, $1 U.S. dollar = 11,702 rupiah as of the writing of this post.

The selection includes a good variety of Indonesian treats as well as Japanese ones. For example, there is a KitKat mini variety pack with twelve different mini bars for just a shade under $6. For reference, I can tell you that the retail price of a bag of 14 Japanese KitKat minis in Japan was the equivalent of $6.50 U.S. Also, the Fujiya Matcha "Look" bar is $2.19. Though such bars cost around 100 yen (about a dollar) in Japan, I never pay less than $2.00 for them at Asian markets here and often pay exactly the same price as KS Snacks charges - $2.19.

For Japanese items, the prices at KS Snacks are comparable to what I'm paying here in the U.S. However, if you're curious about Indonesian snacks, then you're in a position to find some interesting food at bargain prices. One of the more intriguing items is a red wine pretzel snack, Pejoy, for $2.13. There are also two Pocky flavors, mango mousse and blueberry yogurt, at the same price.

In terms of communicating with KS Snacks, I have to say that they were polite, professional, and very helpful. There was no problem at all communicating in English though I'm pretty sure it was the second language of my contact at the company. They sent my package by registered mail and have order tracking for both domestic and international parcels. This is an added service that I have never seen from any other seller who I've reviewed.

Now, for the unboxing...

The parcel comes very well wrapped and protected in a sturdy box. This may not seem like a big deal, but I've received two empty parcels since I moved to a new city. The post office here mishandles mail more than any I've ever experienced before. I'm gratified that this was unassailable or I could have received a package full of crumbs or another empty box.

Ah, bubble wrap. You are my good friend and provide hours of amusement to those who are easily amused... not that I would fall into such a category.

A fine assortment which I'll be reviewing in the coming weeks. 

I was sent a good cross-section of items to sample and I'll be posting my first review of an item next week. It will be interesting to compare the Indonesian golden Oreos to American ones since my husband and I recently got some for free and I now have some first-hand experience with them.

With Christmas coming up, it might make for an interesting gift to assemble an exotic snacks package from KS Snacks. It would be easy to put together a nice mix of some of the more expensive Japanese items and the cheaper Indonesian and other Asian items. I know that I was delighted by my package of surprise goodies from them. 

UHA One Piece Puccho Candy (via Candy Japan)

Consider a hypothetical Japanese business man who is transferred to the United States for about 10 years. He wasn't interested in American-style football before he came to the U.S., but he gradually develops an interest in it, comes to understand it, and attends some games. He can have conversations on the topic with native fans. While he doesn't like all American food, he does give various dishes a chance and settles on a handful that he really enjoys and partakes of regularly. While not totally integrated with the culture, he has found and has an affinity for aspects of it to varying degrees.

Around his 7th year in the U.S., he has a conversation with a Japanese colleague back home and this fellow asks him if he has ever been to Comic Con or visited a gaming or comic store. This coworker, who lives in Japan and has never been to the U.S., is an enormous fan of American comics like "Spider Man" and "X-Men." When the businessman says that he has not had any experience with comics or comic-related culture, his coworker scoffs and says, "America is wasted on you."

I'm offering this little hypothetical story and asking the reader to pause and consider their impression of the Japanese coworker's attitude toward his colleague who is residing in the U.S. Now, I'd like to ask you to replace a few of the details. Instead of "Japanese businessman", substitute "Orchid6" and instead of "football", think "sumo". Finally, instead of Japanese coworker, put in "fellow American blogger" and for "Spider Man and X-Men", sub in Japanese anime and manga. 

When I was living in Japan, I had zero interest in Japanese comics. When I was in my late 30's, I was told that the way in which I did not partake of this one particular aspect of Japanese culture meant that "Japan (was) wasted on you". Yes, because if an adult doesn't embrace just that niche of interest that another adult does, he or she is missing a very important boat.

The snarky attitude of a geeky American was not enough to incite any interest in Japanese comics for me, but a talk with a student who I respected and liked was. A former student, a nurse, said that she borrowed and read the "One Piece" comics that one of her friends collected. At first, she thought they would be childish, but she got hooked. The fact that it involves, at least in theory, pirates, didn't hurt. So, I went online and watched some of the available "One Piece" cartoons that were based on the comic books.

The truth is that I hated it. I found the whole thing grating and relatively incoherent. I'm sure that there's something in it for people who aren't me, but it just didn't do anything for me. That being said, "One Piece" is incredibly popular in Japan and "goods" related to the series are everywhere. The fact that UHA would make a candy themed after it is no surprise. The surprise would be that they could afford the licensing fee.

Before I get any further, I should note that this little bag of interest came to me courtesy of Candy Japan. I reviewed their service previously, and they send out two "surprise" packages per month for a subscription fee of $25. They put as much into a standard Japanese envelope as can fit and they had to make a good effort to cram this in there without mangling it (and a very good job they did of it), because the bag is actually 1/3 bigger than the envelope. I have to give them credit for living up to the "fitting" into the envelope promise which is a part of their service as well as offering something colorful and intriguing. 

To appeal to "One Piece" fans, this packet has various characters depicted on the packages of the "puccho" candy as well as a foil-wrapped sticker. My sticker depicts the "Roronoa.Zoro" character and looks pretty much the same as the packet design of the candy with his image. I believe that there are 9 sticker designs that mirror the packets plus a "surprise" one, but I may be misunderstanding the description on the front. Of course, you have no way of knowing what the sticker will be, which would encourage you to buy many more of these to collect them all.

Incidentally, Candy Japan includes a non-food surprise with most of their packages. My guess is that the inclusion of a sticker with this is a substitute for an additional item this time. That's fair enough, especially given how relatively cramped the package was getting this resealable plastic bag of candy (which is really a nifty little Japanese thing in and of itself - you could reuse it if you were careful with how you opened it - and I was).

The candy itself is a type that I've seen many times, but never bought. "Puccho" is a taffy-like candy with little bits of other things in it, usually gummy. There are two flavors in this bag - lime soda and muscat. I didn't pay exquisite attention, but I think that the muscat are in the blue wrappers and the lime in the green. There are twelve candies in all and appear to be six of each flavor.

Lime soda: Just out of the package, this was a bit hard to chew. There seemed to be a few gummies crammed inside, but once it's in your mouth, you can't distinguish between the taffy and the interior filling. After it warmed up a bit in my, it was much more pliable and enjoyable to chew. It releases a nice, citrus-like burst of lime that is perhaps just a bit too well-tempered by sweetness, but only after you've been chewing for awhile and the taffy exterior has released more of its sugary load. This was a bright, eye-opening option, though it left a lingering sweetness in my mouth that I needed to wash away with a drink.

Muscat: This was also crammed with gummies, but they were smashed up a bit more such that they formed a chewy fruit-leather-sandwich layer. The muscat (a kind of grape) flavor was quite good and had the same sort of flavor that I associate with the large, purple grapes that are sold in Japan. I liked this better than the lime soda and would have been happy with a whole bag of these. It had a non-alcoholic wine feel to it because of the richness of the grape flavor. It also seemed to carry the muscat flavor longer and have less cloying sweetness to pull it along. However, by the end, I still had the sense on my tongue that I'd been sucking on a grape lollipop for awhile.

Some candy is what you want to eat all of the time until the bag is gone. Some is for when you're in the right mood for it. This is definitely a "mood" thing, as many fruit and taffy candies often are. There's nothing wrong with this, but I think the greatest value is in the very colorful novelty of the packaging, the little toy surprise, and the wrappers. You don't even have to be a "One Piece" fan to like the designs, but it probably would make you feel that getting this for half of your subscription price was even more worthwhile.

If I were rating the overall appeal of the package, I'd be giving this a "happy" rating. However, I'm only rating the candy itself. I'll be finishing the candy slowly over time, but I don't think I'd buy "puccho" again. I will, however, be saving the sticker and plastic bag that these came in just for fun. They're nifty little souvenir-type things from Japan.

Candy Japan (service reviews) and Fueramune Blue Soda Whistle Candy

My package from Candy Japan. Note the pretty flower tape at the top.

Today's review candy, Fueramune Blue Soda Whistle Candy, comes courtesy of "Candy Japan". They contacted me and asked if I'd like to receive a few samples and, of course, I said I absolutely would. I'm not the sort of person to turn down free food, especially not free Japanese candy!

Before I get to reviewing the first of the two candies that I was sent, I would like to talk a little about "Candy Japan". They are a subscription service that sends "mystery sweets" twice a  month for a fee of $25. This service includes as much candy as will fit in a standard Japanese envelope sent directly from Japan by SAL. "SAL", for those less well-versed in postal jargon than me, is "sea air land". It's a "between" option for sending packages which is not nearly as slow as seamail, but not quite as fast as air. My experience with it was that it takes about 2-3 weeks and is usually closer to two if you're on the West coast of the United States.

The service includes a nice bonus of mailings that tell you about the product that you're getting in English so that you aren't dealing with a mystery. In fact, they did the work for me in terms of researching the items I was sent. With the Fueramune Blue Soda Whistle Candy, they offered the followed information along with this photo:

Also known as Coris whistle candy, these are soda flavored whistles which you can also eat after you are done whistling with them. There is a small random plastic toy included as well. "Ramune" flavor comes from the popular soda pops sold in Japanese festivals.

This is a kid's candy which I never tried while in Japan and I noted that it also included a little box at the bottom which had a propeller in it. I think that the idea is that you buy multiple packages of the candy and each may include a different plastic part. When it is assembled, it is likely an airplane like the one illustrated on the box.

The candy itself is very interesting because it is a pressed powder candy which becomes soft and dissolves very quickly in your mouth. It seems like an enormous disc, but it becomes a burst of "ramune" (lemon lime soda) flavor that is brightly sweet, but not cloying, in very short order. And yes, the disks do function as a kind of low-rent whistle if you blow through one of the holes. The sound they make isn't loud enough to be annoying, but is close enough to fulfill the promise of a "whistle". I loved the textural elements and the way the flavor just lets loose in my mouth, though I wished that each disc had lasted a little longer before melting away in my mouth.

The company that makes the candy, Coris, has a variety of children's candies including this and the next item from Candy Japan that I'll be reviewing on Monday. The Fueramune is one of their best and longest selling products since their start in the late 1940's. They specialize in fruit and ramune candies and tend to focus more on options which will not melt in the heat of summer like gum, pressed powder candies, taffy-style candies (chews), and gummies. It makes sense that Candy Japan would choose offerings from Coris at this time because the summer in Japan has been pretty brutal. They aren't going to want to send anything which will be likely to melt in transit.

I'd definitely buy this type of candy again if I were in the mood. It's a very "homey" feeling candy for someone who has lived in Japan for quite awhile and I don't think there is anything quite like it being sold in America (though I could be wrong as I'm not up on American kid's candies).

In terms of Candy Japan's service, they  have a very professional way of managing their subscriptions and I love the way they send out packages twice a month. Unlike some other services, they are sending directly from Japan so you are guaranteed to get something which comes straight from the source. You have no choice about what items you receive, but part of the point of it is that you're going to be surprised and try new things rather than choose from within your personal comfort zone. The cost for two mailings per month is $25, and that value includes the cost of the product as well as the shipping, handling, and management of the service.

As I've said before, I did not do this sort of thing from Japan despite the fact that many people asked me about doing it because I see it as a very low margin business given the time and effort involved. Readers will have to consider the value of such a service based on their own tastes, wishes, and desire to have something truly unique in their mailbox a couple of times a month. As someone who used to live for what showed up in the post for quite a few years of my life, I can speak to the unparalleled delights of such surprises once you get accustomed to the idea of having them. 

Skoshbox Subscription Service (Review)

I used to belong to a service called "The Macintosh Book Club". It was like the Columbia Record Club, except it offered you computer books. The amazing thing about it was that they would send the books to Japan at a time when on one would send anything there by mail order due to shipping costs. Books, fortunately, were one of those things which survived a long shipping time so they could send them by the cheaper surface mail (seamail) rate. It was awesome, until they started sending me stuff I didn't want and asking me to pay for it. Then things turned into a bit of a sticky wicket, but that was long ago in the past and I'm sure that the unfair charges they submitted (about $55) to a collection agency have been wiped off of my credit report by now.

Postage is always the sticky wicket when it comes to international buying. Even big markets here in California which are, obviously, getting bulk rates, are charging $2.50 for beverages that routinely sell for about $1.00-$1.50 in Japan because the weight makes them so expensive to get from there to here. It's also why, as I mentioned when I reviewed the Sakura Box service, that I never got into the business of procuring snacks for others and selling them. It's a harsh world, doing mail order, and even harsher with low profit margin items like food. I wanted no part of it, no matter how many people asked me to do it for them (and quite a few did).

Sakura Box, apparently, sadly decided it wasn't worth the trouble either and shuttered their mail order snacks subscription service. Fortunately, Skoshbox has stepped up to the plate to serve the needs of those who would like to treat themselves to a box of surprises/samples once a month. Skoshbox, which is ran by two childhood friends with Japanese mothers who have lived in Japan, offers a monthly box of mixed treats and goodies for $12. They sent me a box for review (free). 

Their business operates from Hawaii, which means they actually have better access to Japanese snacks than I do in my present location. Most of my students thought Hawaii actually belonged to Japan anyway, and there is a big section of the tourist industry there which is devoted to catering to Japanese visitors. Skoshbox says that all of its contents are directly sourced from Japan, and I can definitely say that what I received bears this out. All of the snacks that I buy in Japanese markets in California have stickers on the back with English translations, often placed annoyingly over the Japanese I'd like to look at. Everything I got from Skoshbox looks like it was picked up in a shop in Tokyo. The "Look" chocolate, for instance, has no translation on the back and the Hi-Chews do not English language writing on them.

Being in Hawaii means that the shipping time may be a little longer since it has to reach the mainland. My box was shipped on June 14 and arrived on June 18, so you shouldn't have to wait too long to get your goodies. I should note that a little more than a quarter of the subscription fee is eaten up by the postage. Once you also add in Skoshbox's cost of buying shipping materials (boxes, packing tissue, and postcards ain't free, buddy), you're probably looking at about $3.50-$3.75 in material costs and postage alone. Since I ran a mail order business (as I've mentioned before, selling high margin collectible records and music memorabilia), I'm sensitive to the fact that the cost of the goods isn't all that goes into such things. 

Part of the value is in the materials to get things to you. Another part is in having the folks at Skoshbox procure, pack, and haul your parcel to the post off. This makes it all the more impressive to me that they're only charging $12 a month. It's just a bit more than you'd pay for a crummy pizza at Little Ceasar's and it's a lot more fun and won't make you nearly as sick.

Now for the good stuff, which is the unboxing. When you open up your little treasure trove, you're greeted with a postcard with a Japanese pattern printed on it and the date to let you know that this is the offering for this particular month. The contents are tucked under the tissue paper. The presentation is quite lovely and you can tell attention has been given to it, just as it would be in Japan.

If you flip the card over, you'll see a description of everything in the box in English. Since there are no translations on the items, this is the only way to know what they are. That being said, you have to match the general packaging to the English by matching the description to the item it appears to describe since they aren't labeled in English. If there is no English at all, which is the case with the umaibo (tasty stick), you'll have to figure out for yourself that it's the only puffed corn snack in the box through process of elimination. Also, though several flavors of umaibo are mentioned in the description, it's not clear which flavor the included sticks are. You're flying a bit blind if you can't read Japanese. My sticks were shrimp mayonnaise and chicken curry, but two other flavors, pizza and takoyaki, are mentioned on the card. Still, it's a nice touch, and it shouldn't be too hard to match items to descriptions based on appearances and small amount of English on the snacks. You'll have to match the flavor by taste and smell if you can't read Japanese, which should be a bit of an adventure.

This is the full range of items unpacked from the box. Everything except the shoyu sembei traveled well, and it's no surprise that they would crack. It's not like they don't crack in the packages you buy them in before you even get them home from the store or even simply are broken before purchase. You don't have to see the contents here though. Skoshbox puts up a page showing the "current box" on their site so you will have a pretty good idea of what you might be getting before you get it.

One touch which I like about this is the inclusion of Japanese stationary items. It means there is something a little more permanent from the box than food items which will be eaten and possibly forgotten. Though this included "only" a white eraser, I have to say that their claim that Japanese erasers are "life changing" would have seemed a little silly to me before I came back to the U.S. and tried to use an eraser here. You'd think that something so basic would be easy to get right, but the erasers in America that I've used are terrible. They're too hard, leave smudges, and generally ineffective. The Japanese ones are one of those things that they've refined to a point of near perfection. Yes, it does make a difference what sort of eraser you have. 

I was delighted by the presentation, speed of delivery, and contents of the Skoshbox monthly box. I also feel that the price is extremely reasonable for the overall package of service plus contents. Though, obviously, you could acquire these items yourself more cheaply if you were shopping in Japan. Of course, part of the reason that one would consider this service is that one doesn't have the capacity to actually shop in Japan, so that's neither here nor there. It's a nice way to give yourself a monthly round of surprises for a modest price.

Readers of my blog who would like to purchase a Skoshbox subscription (you can cancel at any time if you get one box and want to stop), can use a special code to get a free mystery snack in their first box. The code will be valid until July 15, 2013. That code is: JPNSNACK03 

I'll be reviewing some of the food contents in upcoming posts.

Sakura Box Mixed Candy Bag (service review)

When I was still living in Japan, no small number of people contacted me about acquiring the snacks that I reviewed for them. Mostly, they wanted me to pick up some item of interest and mail it to them at cost, plus possibly a little something for my trouble. On the surface, this didn't sound like much effort. I was going to be out shopping anyway, after all, and how hard is it to throw something in a mailer or box and send it off in the mail? Well, it's a lot more trouble than you think.

During my first ten years in Japan, my husband and I sold collectible records, posters, and music-related memorabilia by mail order. I have copious experience with what it takes to run a mail order business and it is not simple. The fact that the internet as it currently exists was not around made it more complex as I had to create and mail out catalogs and sales sheets, but it is still troublesome in a variety of ways even with the ease that comes form online listings of ones products.

First of all, shopping for yourself is not the same as shopping for others or with the interests of the customer in mind. Second, finding, purchasing, and putting together packages takes a lot of time. Finally, it is no small feat hassling with the post office portion. All of this was a huge time sink hole for us and customers do not view your time as having any particular value and do not want to pay you for it. No, the customer looks only at two things - perceived value of item and the cost of postage. They don't think about the value of your time, cost of packaging (boxes, tape), or your profit margin.

Running a mail order business of any sort can be a thankless task, especially when poor handling causes damage to goods in transit despite ones best efforts to pack well. Customers used to complain bitterly about my "overcharging" on postage when my husband and I busted our behinds to charge as close to cost as humanly possible. For our business, which was high profit, low volume sales of very rare items, this was worthwhile until eBay created a new paradigm that dramatically lowered profit margins. For something like Japanese snacks, which are a low profit margin, potentially high volume item, well, I wasn't going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Sakura Box, however, has decided that it's up to the task that I was not.

My focus on this review is on the service Sakura Box offers. I will review the items they sent me throughout several other reviews and note that they were provided courtesy of them. When I say "courtesy", I mean that I did not pay for what I was sent. That means that its up to my readers to determine the value of their service based on what I say here and what they see in pictures. As someone with access, though more limited now than in the past, to Japanese snacks, I cannot evaluate the value of the contents the same as those who may have zero access to such items. Europeans used to pony up handsome sums for the Japanese records my husband and I offered because they couldn't get them anywhere else. Those who lived in cities with well-stocked second-hand shops viewed our prices differently. Boy howdy, did some of my customers complain bitterly about prices while others expressed extreme gratitude for what they could buy. Value is a highly subjective thing.

Note that the postage on this is $5.35. I always note such things since people whined so much about the postage costs I charged them. Shipping from Sakura Box is included in the basic price (essentially, free shipping).

Before I get any further, let me talk a bit about what Sakura Box does. They offer a range of packages that result in the customer receiving a variety of a certain category of items. The item I received (gratis) was the monthly mixed candy bag. Each month, the selection is different, so you should get new surprises each time. They also offer a cookie box, bath salts, and a spa box. If you like something in the samples included in your boxes, there is the possibility of contacting them and getting more of it.

Perfectly packed in pink tissue paper. I envy this level of neatness.

My experience with my order started with my name being entered into the system like any other customer. I received a confirmation e-mail for the order followed by a shipping confirmation message. I liked that they were on the ball with this even though they are a small organization. It reflects a professional attitude. I've purchased from major companies who did not confirm my order or shipping even though they have access to automated software and more resources. Note that Sakura Box is ran by a couple who are looking to provide access to Japanese things to those who can't get them.

Peeling back the paper.

The box was carefully and nicely packed with pink tissue paper and has a small hand-written card in it. Looking at the handwriting on the card made me smile because there is a particular way that Japanese women tend to write. I'm guessing they are taught this way to print when they are in school. It's always very neat and has a particular look to it. Seeing the card took me back to Japan in the best possible way.

Inside the box is, as promised, an assortment of small and medium-size goodies. All of them arrived in perfect condition despite the postal service's best effort to ding one side of their own packing box. It's hard to speak to the mix of candy included in terms of this review because it will change every month. One of the things about buying a surprise box is that, well, every time it is a surprise. I can say that parts of this were more welcome than others in terms of my personal tastes. For instance, I can buy enormous bite-size bags of Hi-Chew at Costco and am not the biggest fan of Hi-Chew anyway, so this would not be something I value. I was, however, delighted to see the Morinaga caramels, Pure gummy candies, and Choco Baby. I am quite interested to try the lemon and ramune pressed powder candies, but am rather so-so on the boxes of fruit gum and hard candies. Since this was my only experience with their assortment, I don't know if there was little chocolate included because of the hot weather or if they tend not to include chocolate because it doesn't travel well.

As a service, I see this as one akin to the "cheese/wine/fruit/cookie" of the month club sort of things. You essentially treat yourself to a surprise package. You don't have to buy every one every month once you purchase one, but Sakura Box will send an e-mail to let you know that a new one is going to be available and you can opt to order one if you please (but they won't automatically send one). As someone who declined to be a personal shopper for those who wanted Japanese snacks, I appreciate the effort that has to go into providing this service and think that those who love all things Japan yet have no access may find this a very useful, and frankly, fun, option.

For me personally, frankly, I would not avail myself of it, though I do love the idea of a surprise package of Japanese goodies. There's something about not making the choices yourself which makes it feel like a gift rather than an order. There are several reasons why I am unlikely to buy a monthly candy box. The primary one is that this is not all "new" to me. I lived in Japan for 23 years and have written this blog for over 3 years and have gone out of my way to try new things. The chances that Sakura Box can provide someone like me with sufficient novelty is quite low. About half of the items are ones I've already had from my experiences in Japan (though only one was reviewed here). Second, I am fortunate that I live in an area with ample access to Japanese markets and live close to Daiso Japan and Nijiya Japanese market. Finally, I have contacts in Japan who could send me whatever I want whenever I wanted. Not everyone is so lucky as me.

I simply am not the proper audience for this service. I'm a very, very unusual audience. My readers, however, who sometimes asked me to shop for them when I lived in Japan, may find it of far greater utility. Certainly the service is excellent. They communicate well, pack well, and I received my box very, very quickly. The only question those who want to use the service have to ask themselves is whether they value the experience enough to pay $22.50 for the given selection, and that's a question for each particular individual to ask and answer.