Although life in Japan can be pretty hectic at times, tea culture is also a central part of life. That means slowing down and taking time to appreciate the small pleasures of a refreshing drink and an exquisitely made snack.
Sakuraco is a monthly subscription box from Japan that aims to bring traditional Japanese snacks and tea culture to the world. If you are interested in traditional Japanese sweets and lifestyle, you will love this box.
Read on for my Sakuraco box review and find out what’s inside!
Disclaimer: Sakuraco sent me a free box to review. This post contains affiliate links. Words and opinions are my own.
What is the Sakuraco box?
Sakuraco is a monthly box of authentic Japanese treats that ships direct from Japan all over the world.
The focus is on products made by traditional makers and small businesses. You can learn about their makers on their website and in the booklet that comes with each box. Many of them are family businesses that have specialised in their craft over years.
Each box has a different theme, such as a region of Japan or a seasonal event. You can order a one-off box as a treat or subscribe for monthly boxes.
Sakuraco is the sister of the TokyoTreat box that I reviewed last week. But whereas TokyoTreat is focused on popular snacks and trendy treats, Sakuraco is focused on traditional flavours and small makers.
What’s inside the Sakuraco box?
Each box contains 15-20 items. These are a mix of sweet and savoury snacks, plus Japanese tea and an item for the home such as chopsticks or a furoshiki cloth.
The snacks include traditional Japanese treats such as mochi, manju, yokan and konpeito sweets and senbei crackers.
Sakuraco sent me a free box to review. I received the August 2022 box, with the theme ‘Okinawa Retreat’. Let’s peek inside!
Here are all the items that came in the August box:
- Okinawa Shikuwasa Jelly
- Blueberry Tart x2
- Okinawa Brown Sugar Bread
- Okinawa Sanpincha x2
- Okinawa Cinnamon Cookie
- Walnut Cookie x2
- Chili Shrimp Arare x2
- Okinawa Brown Sugar Kuzumochi
- Sata Andagi Brown Sugar Donut
- Shikuwasa Manju
- Tannafakuru Brown Sugar Cookie
- Snow Salt Milk Chinsuko x2
- Brown Sugar Karinto
- Ichimatsu Chopsticks
Unboxing was a very nice experience. The items are beautifully arranged in an elegant sakura print box. They were packed in well and there was no damage from transit. On top of the box was a beautiful postcard with a welcome message from the box’s founder.
There was also a booklet in the box with details on each of the items, plus some articles on Okinawan culture and on some of the makers of the products in the box.
Since this was an Okinawan themed box, many of the snacks featured two of Okinawa’s most famous products: shikuwasa (a citrus fruit sometimes called Okinawa limes) and kokuto (brown sugar).
I particularly enjoyed the brown sugar bread and the Shikuwasa jelly!
I was surprised that my box only contained two teabags, since they advertise themselves as based on the Japanese tea culture. I did enjoy the Okinawan Sanpincha tea, but I would have liked to sample some different teas.
