Japan is a country people just seem to fall in love with and it is high on my travel bucket list.
This year I was responsible for running the social media for Japan Festival Wellington. Often when the committee caught up there were delicious treats on the table that someone had kindly brought back from Japan for us to share.
Fortunately there is a way of bringing a slice Japan into your home and trying Japanese treats without anyone travelling there. TokyoTreat is a monthly Japanese treat box subscription service which delivers authentic Japanese sweets, snacks and convenience foods straight from Japan.
Ayumi, the founder of TokyoTreat, started packing boxes of Japanese snacks to send to her friends around the world and was inspired to connect more people with modern Japan’s cool and crazy snacks.
My TokyoTreat Review
I loved the idea of opening a box full of surprises however with New Zealand having strict biosecurity rules, my TokyoTreat box was held up at customs until I could provide them with a full ingredient list. The TokyoTreat team were amazing and sent this through to me immediately.
I received the shipping notification on a Friday afternoon with delivery due by the end of the day the following Tuesday. Even with the customs holdups I received it within 6 days.
My TokyoTreat box contained 17 items which were a mix of well-known brands and unique finds that would be otherwise hard to get outside of Japan. There was a good mix of sweet and savoury items which you might find in a Japanese convenience store.
Each month this Japanese treat box has a different theme and being October it contained Halloween-inspired snacks such as Spooky Spicy Crackers, Halloween Coco Pie, Boo! Ghost Gummies and many more.
Limited-edition Japanese snacks like Apple Pie Kit Kats, Japanese noodles and baked goods are fun and full of flavours I’d never otherwise have thought to try, or be able to find. The Pai no Mi Mini Pies were my favourite item with sweet flaky pastry and a rich custard centre. Oishii!
I don’t have any Japanese to be able read any of the packaging but the box contains a detailed booklet written in English. This includes information about Japanese pop culture through stories about the treats and each snack’s flavour, allergens, and whether it is suitable for vegetarians is explained. There is also an engaged community on social media sharing their boxes.
As the items are mostly individual snack size there is a lot of packaging. Much of it is soft-plastic which you can take to a soft plastic recycling scheme collection point.
Only one item (a crispy pumpkin cracker) had been crushed on the journey so the boxes are well packed.
TokyoTreat Subscriptions
TokyoTreat offers monthly, three month, six month and annual subscription plans and the longer you subscribe for the less you pay per box. Shipping is additional and varies depending on the subscription and your location.
When buying international snacks and treats in New Zealand (or shipping Kiwi treats to family in the UK using sites like SANZA) I find that the products can be very close to or past their expiry dates as a whole lot of stock has been shipped at once. Products in the TokyoTreat boxes have a 6 month to 1 year expiration period when sent. It would take some serious willpower to not devour everything quickly though!
I think a one-off TokyoTreat box would make a gorgeous gift idea for someone missing Japan, planning to travel to Japan, or who just likes trying different food items from around the world.
For more traditional Japanese snacks, Sister Japanese treat box Sakuraco features up to 20 authentic Japanese snacks, Japanese teas, and a unique homeware item each month.
Thank you and arigato to the TokyoTreat team for reaching out and sending me this box so I could write this TokyoTreat review.
