Sakuraco Review: Inside the "Discovering Mt. Fuji" Box
Sakuraco gifted me this box. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you.
I said yes to a box of snacks expecting exactly that, snacks. What showed up was so much more than that: a dorayaki that pulled me right back to a recent trip to Tokyo, a tea towel I'll be keeping long after the snacks are gone, and easily one of the more pleasant surprises to land on my desk this year.
The Unboxing
The presentation was meticulous and so intentional, with real Japanese elegance to it. The first thing you see when you open it is a beautiful postcard, a piece of art in its own right. It's a ukiyo-e style print of Mt. Fuji. From there came a packet full of gorgeous pictures and highlights of the Mt. Fuji area, along with traditional notes and descriptions of the different snacks, well-designed enough that it felt worth keeping on its own.
The tea towel was just as lovely, the kind of extra that actually earns a place in my kitchen.
A couple of small things worth pointing out: the booklet included does more than tell the story behind each snack, it also lists allergen info for every item, a nice touch since a lot of the packaging is Japanese-only. Each edition is numbered, this one was Volume 66, and Sakuraco puts one out every month, so that number alone tells you they've been doing this for years.
The Standout: Dorayaki and Green Tea
My heart fluttered when I saw the dorayaki in the box. I first became familiar with dorayaki through the novel Sweet Bean Paste, which centers on the craft of making the filling, and I got so drawn into it that I actually learned to make my own. That sent me looking for the real thing when I was in Tokyo recently, soft, fluffy cakes wrapped around bean paste so smooth it barely needed chewing. A perfect dessert or snack, and my highest compliment: it wasn't too sweet. Sakuraco's version brought me right back to that trip, the cake was just as fluffy and the bean paste just as smooth as what I had in Japan. I paired it with the box's Yamanashi Harukiya green tea, and it was a perfect match, flavorful without tipping into bitter or overly strong, and a brand I'd never come across before, despite being a serious green tea drinker. Thank you to Sakuraco for having me try this one, it really did feel like getting a small piece of that trip back, such a pleasant surprise.
Grab your own Sakuraco box here
Everything Else in the Box
There was a lot more in this box than I expected, here are a few of the other snacks I tried:
Yamanashi peach jelly: smooth, delicate, melts right in your mouth. One of the standouts alongside the dorayaki.
Kyoho grape mini pie: a crunchy, flaky little cracker, with the grape coming through more in the aroma than the bite, a fun contrast rather than a letdown.
Seaweed soy chips: bold, unmistakable seaweed flavor, no watered-down version here. My household eats seaweed regularly and these disappeared fast, a great pick if you already love seaweed snacks, and a good excuse to become a fan if you don't yet. Worth noting: it's labeled vegetarian friendly but may contain traces of crab, shrimp, egg, and dairy, so worth a look if that matters to you.
Salted mochi munchie: crunchy, a bit like a fried puffed rice with a light corn flavor. Very good.
Sweet potato amanatto: soft candied sweet potato, easy to love especially if you're already a sweet potato person.
Honest Take
Short answer: yes, this one's worth it. Twenty snacks alone would have made the price tag worth it for me, and everything else, the tea, the booklet, the tenugui towel, just makes the whole thing feel even more special. This box leans into real, traditional Japanese flavors rather than playing it safe, so a couple of the snacks, like the seaweed chips, come in bold and might not be for everyone. That's exactly what I enjoyed about it. Plans run from $37.50 for a single box down to $32.50 a month on the 12-month plan, plus shipping. Worth every penny.
Try It Yourself
Use code LIFESHELOVES for $5 off your first box.
If you want to see what's in next month's box, grab your own Sakuraco box here.
