TokyoTreat & Sakuraco: A Review Of Two Japanese Subscription Boxes

If you’re craving Japan but can’t quite summon the funds to get you there, or if you just want a taste of Japan whether you’ve been there before or not, a great way to sample some Japanese flavours is to grab a subscription box packed with goodies.

The only problem is, there are a few to choose from. I love the look of TokyoTreat AND Sakuraco, and couldn’t decide which I’d prefer to try.

TokyoTreat offers fun snacks; Sakuraco offers authentic ones. I’ve said a few times before that one of my (many) favourite things about Japan is the mix of crazy and modern, and traditional and historic. Both of these sides of Japan are exactly what appeal to me about the country – so how do you choose which is the best to experience?

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Join me on a cultural experience with a full review of both boxes to see which you’d prefer!

Disclaimer: ICHIGO sent me both their original TokyoTreat box and the Sakuraco box in exchange for a review. All content and opinions are my own.

This post also contains affiliate links, which means if you buy anything through my links, I may earn a little commission at no extra cost to you.

A quick look at both TokyoTreat and Sakuraco

TokyoTreat has a wide selection of quirky and unique Japanese treats ranging from instant noodles to interesting snacks and sweets. A lot of these can be readily found in Japan and are mostly mass-produced items, so there might be things you recognise but haven’t tried before, or even things you have.

Sakuraco focuses more on independent artisan businesses across Japan, meaning high quality items from authentic suppliers.

TokyoTreat full review

Here’s what I thought of each thing!

Matcha KitKats – you guys will know from my last post that I LOVE all the weird flavoured KitKats! I’d actually tried matcha ones before, and while it’s not my favourite one, it’s a really cool thing to include – especially a full pack of them!

Chanpon Noodles – you can’t really go wrong with Japanese noodles, can you? A solid addition to the box.

Crunky Cookie Balls – these chocolate covered biscuit balls at first reminded me of Maltesers, but with biscuit rather than malt, which meant they aren’t melt-in-your-mouth, but they’re very more-ish!

Lemon Cream Collon – these flaky lemon-flavoured snacks are SO delicious! I wasn’t expecting to really like them, and after one I wasn’t convinced. After two, I wanted to finish the whole packet. Even more more-ish than the cookie balls, and possibly my favourite snack in the box!

Black Thunder Butter Flavour – this is like an all-in-one chocolate biscuit, because when I bit into it, it was an explosion of flavour and texture. Definitely got the butter flavour, but beyond that, it was like biscuit mixed with Oreo mixed with… another biscuit that I can’t put my finger on. Legit would look out for these if I ever go back to Japan, it was delicious. And didn’t last very long!

Garlic Shrimp Japanese-Style Chips – these were a lot stronger than I was expecting! They’re almost like prawn crackers in crisp form, with a strong garlic flavour.

Golden Moon Senbei – basically honey soy rice crackers, which are delicious! Two in a pack, and I finished one and immediately scoffed the second. So good!

Fried Squid Senbei – some squid crackers, which are a bit different… they are like crisps (or chips for Americans) and they are so good!!

Twist Corn BBQ Flavour – I thought this would be like a weird savoury popcorn, but they’re more like corn chips… a bit like NikNaks! Also got more of a chive & onion taste than BBQ, to me anyway.

Mini Mochi Candy – you can’t get much more Japanese than mochi candy. These looked so much like jelly sweets that my mouth was a bit surprised when it was the soft texture of mochi! Very nice, anyway.

Mini Moonlight Cookies – these are just good ol’ fashioned cookies. Nice but nothing original!

Banana Castella – a banana cake? Of course. It’s actually filled with a “banana bean paste” which sounds extremely unap-peel-ing – but I actually really liked it!

Senbei & Peanut Snack Mix – nice little snack mix that would be good for hiking. I don’t like peanuts but the senbei are really good, bit harder and crunchier than the other senbei in the boxes and also have a nice kick to them!

Full Moon Rabbit Senbei – I don’t know how to describe the texture of these but they are basically little soy cracker biscuit… things. Very flaky, but in a powdery way, but also solid. This is a terrible description. It was nice.

Caramel Popcorn – apart from the cute packaging, this is fairly standard caramel popcorn. Very nice popcorn, but not groundbreaking.

I’ve also made a video unboxing the whole lot so you can see everything up close!

Order TokyoTreat here!

Sakuraco full review

My Sakuraco box contained:

• Tsukimi Ryokucha tea x 2
• Tsukimi Mikan Cream Cookie x 2
• Tsukimi Candy
• Cocoa Black Soybeans x 2
• Chestnut Dorayaki
• Kodaimai Senbei
• Custard Taiyaki x 2
• Hokkori Sweet Potato
• Kokuto Kinako Mochi
• Usagi Pon Senbei
• Usagi Hozui
• Black Sesame Miso Arare
• Lemon Baked Chocolate
• Tsukimi Dish
• A postcard

Tsukimi ryokucha tea – first off, I’m not a big fan of green tea, so this one went to my mum who enjoyed it! I tried a sip of it and it was fine. I’m not the best judge of that.

Tsukimi mikan cream cookie – these little cookies are very thin and crispy – perfect with the above tea.

Tsukimi candy – these are lovely little candies, really flavourful too.

Cocoa black soybeans – these are not what I expected – they’re like chocolate covered nuts! But… not nuts. And there are two little packs of them included.

Chestnut dorayaki – not my favourite, but a very good traditional pancake with chestnut paste.

Kodaimai senbei – a rice and quinoa cracker… I prefer the soy ones but this is a great traditional one to try and they’re a really good snack. I liked these a lot more than I thought I would!

Custard taiyaki – oooh, this was something I actually meant to try in Japan! It’s a similar texture (and size) to the red bean paste cakes on Miyajima which I really didn’t like. However this one is filled with a custard paste and I am a big fan! So glad there’s two of them as it means I have another to enjoy.

Hokkori sweet potato – an interesting thing to include in a snack box… a little sweet potato! Not sure what I thought of this, it was very sweet. Something I’m glad I was able to try though!

Kokuto kinako mochi – a whole pack of six traditional mochi! These are like gelatinous rice cakes, and I honestly didn’t think I’d be a fan of the plain traditional ones but they’re actually really nice! A vague hint of sweet flavour from the paste inside which really makes it. This was an unexpected highlight of the box.

Usagi pon senbei – I’m pretty sure these are exactly the same as the full moon soy crackers from the other box. Really like these!

Usagi hozui – this is the really adorable marshmallow mouse! Not what I expected at all – not as fluffy as normal marshmallow, it’s a bit denser AND has what looks like two flavours of paste inside. Not sure what I think of this one.

Black sesame miso arare – quite an assortment of flavour in this one, which is a good thing because they all complement each other! Not too more-ish but I could definitely accidentally eat too many of them.

Lemon baked chocolate – this little lemon cupcake thing was very little indeed, but I enjoyed what there was of it! Slightly crunchy so an interesting texture and very nice. Would definitely be able to eat more of these.

White chocolate strawberry – this seemed to be a bonus item with Sakuraco branding. It was literally a dried strawberry that had a vague white chocolate infusion! It was quite nice actually.

And here’s a video unboxing Sakuraco so you can see all of the above!

Order Sakuraco here!

BONUS BOX: A TokyoTreat Sakura themed box!

I’ve just tried TokyoTreat’s sakura themed box for 2025 and it’s brilliant!

This feels much more curated than the other TokyoTreat box, with sakura flavoured marshmallows, plum crisps and strawberry shortcake KitKats – it’s mostly very pink!

There’s also a great mix between savoury and sweet, with tonkotsu noodles and savoury snacks mixed with peach sweets and little cakes.

Here’s everything in the box:

• Strawberry Shortcake KitKats
• Sakura Blossom Cake
• Peach Mochi
• Sakura Petal Marshmallows
• Sakura Donut
• Sour Plum Salt Crackers
• Senbei Spring Mix
• Pistachio and Strawberry Pai no Mi
• Onion Puffs
• Baked Potato Poricky Sticks
• Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen
• Crispy Fried Rice Crackers
• Blossom-Viewing Chocolate Bites (these are basically Smarties!)
• Postcard with cherry blossoms

The booklet also provides a whole load of info on where to view cherry blossoms in Japan, so if you’re planning on visiting, this is a great little guide!

As always, I love that a unique KitKat flavour is included in the box, and I also really like all the savoury snacks. One strange one in this box is the peach mochi… because the inner wrapper is edible!! I was trying to get the sweet out and it wasn’t working – that’s why! The peach mochi (with wrapper) is delicious.

My favourites are the fried rice crackers (and the senbei spring mix which is a selection of various rice crackers), onion puffs, and the sakura marshmallows are sooo addictive! I would look for these in a shop.

And the KitKats might be one of my favourite flavours yet! Still nothing will beat melon, but I’ve tried about 4 types of strawberry now and this is my favourite out of those. It’s white chocolate with flecks of strawberry. Yum!

I also took the pistachio & strawberry pai no mi into work and they’ve been a hit!

TokyoTreat vs Sakuraco: Which Japanese Subscription Box Should You Get?

The part I really struggled with was choosing which subscription box to try! I actually asked if I could try both for this purpose – because I couldn’t decide, and because I hoped it might help you decide!

Personally, I think it depends what you want to get out of Japanese goodies. Do you prefer the bonkers, quirky snacks that Japan is known for, or do you want to dive deeper into Japanese culture and find real authenticity?

For me, I think TokyoTreat is one that I would get on a regular basis, while Sakuraco feels like one to treat yourself to every few months. That said, I love the cultural aspect of it, and learning about the moon rabbit festival was so interesting and makes me curious about what the next box will be themed around!

For that reason, I think Sakuraco has better curation and has been thoughtfully picked to match the theme it’s going for, while TokyoTreat seems to be a random assortment of treats. However, as you can see they do also have themed months – I’ve seen Halloween and Christmas themed ones as well.

In short though, I loved both!

You can subscribe to the boxes on a monthly basis, or sign up for a 3, 6 or 12-month subscription, starting from $32.50 a month! For a one-off box, it’s $37.50, so definitely better value to go for a longer term one.

They deliver worldwide too, as the boxes are shipped directly from Japan, rather than being a US-based distributor. That also means they charge in US dollars as a standard currency.

Order TokyoTreat here!
OR
Order Sakuraco here!

I truly think this is a fantastic way to try lots of unique flavours from Japan without having to fork out for a flight, and it’s something I’m tempted to sign up for every month just so I can have more. A taster is all you need to want more of it!

Thanks to ICHIGO for sending me these – I’ve had a great time trying all the goodies!

Which one would you like to try?