“I’ve been subscribed to Sakura co for a while now and it’s great to see the team really taking in customers feedback - their dedication is clearly reflected in the gradual improvements in the boxes each month! Always a beautiful selection of treats (although some might not suit everyone’s taste, Japanese sweets can be very sweet).
Great for sharing and learning about Japanese food, people and culture.
I would love to see more benefits for long term subscribers and perhaps another reward system other than the monthly prizes for those who aren’t active on social media?”
“Lovely authentic Japanese sweets. Every box comes with an fantastic assortment of baked goods and sweets. I recommend if you want to try new things. Great service.”
“A nice assortment of Autumn treats. However some were crushed in shipping. I like the books that explain the snacks. I also like the related notes about where the snacks are made and general information on related topics”
“Always delightful contents!
Being greeted with "Nice to meet you. Lets have Tea" is so heart warming!
I enjoyed my Ibaraki Harvest afternoon tea in the shade of my mulberry tree.
Also craving houjicha from the Kyoto Harvest moon box”
“I'm absolutely over the moon (pun intended) with this month's theme, Kyoto's moon-viewing festival! The selection of snacks was delightful, personally I loved everything that came with it, and the care that goes into the whole ensemble is just endearing. It really feels very special. I especially love the Tsukimi plate, in my opinion the most beautiful piece of dishware they have included yet.
There were slight technical shipping hiccups, but everything arrived in a timely manner and without any bigger issues!
I'm only disappointed that the box wasn't inside another cardboard box, instead just having a shipping label stuck straight onto it. I would have loved to re-use the box if it weren't for that, and another layer of protection could probably have prevented some broken cookies, too!
Overall, very happy with it!”
“Opening the first box was a holiday experience. The box itself is beautiful, and the presentation of the information booklet and the snacks and tea inside is immaculate. Everything fits so nicely.
Sorting through and reading about the snacks and tea is fun, and ingredient information is given in the booklet as well.
The saddest thing was creating a pile of snacks we could have, and a pile of snacks that we could not have. I went to the Sakuraco site to see if there was an option for a totally vegan box, but to no avail.
This box subscription was a gift to us, and we're so excited to get them for the next couple of months, but I'm really not looking forward to the same ritual of sorting out the snacks we can't have. ):
If there was an option for a totally vegan box, even if it meant repeats of snacks, I would renew this subscription for myself.”
“Most products were really tasty. More sweet than savory, definitely preffered. Better than bokksu for sure. Definitely should be more upfront with the price instead of getting sticker shocked at the checkout though.”
“Sakura co boxes are a treat fo0r those who want to learn more about Japanese culture and destinations. Reading through the booklet each month gives you great insight into various locations across the country that would be fun to visit and a bit about their festivals, traditions, and history. Snack wise there are usually a few unique and truly cool snacks in each box, but some of them do just seem to be repetitive and uninteresting (maybe even very cheap) such as the breads, jellies, and crunchy chocolates. The price tag does admittedly seem high for what you get and would be more appropriately placed at around 20$ before shipping. 4 stars.”
“Loved the box of goodies. 45$ & 3 weeks later but worth the wait just wish the bowl was glass instead of plastic. Totally worth it tho!!
Austin Texas”
“Pros:
-Lovely box
-Arrived quickly
-Variation of snacks
-booklet gives you details on each snack
-Legit straight from Japan
-Worthwhile purchase overall
Cons:
-Lovely box sometimes has no protection and comes with the shipping sticker straight on it
-Contains one single packet of bagged tea
(If the package is meant to be shared, its going to be a pretty small pot of tea for the group)
-Some more fragile crackers can come broken (if sent with no protection for box)
So overall good, but room for improvement.”
“This Summer Hokkaido box has too many little sweets to be my fav, not enough variety & nothing very substantial...just a lot of white flour. I should say that in past I always chose my boxes & skipped a month if it didn't appeal (I always look for a big bag of mochi), but I got stung, not realizing that when I moved to multi-month plan, suddenly I can't skip a month. Sakuraco does not tell you this that I can see. Probably a translation problem, but it is deceitful. PLUS when you sign up for the special freebie promotion, you only get that bonus the first month (also not spelled out), and totally unfair, you lose your original intro sign-up bonus. So many silly obscure rules (Japanese culture I guess), which I have emailed them about. I think I may just stick to Yamibuy & Yummy Bazaar & my local Japanese grocers. It's a shame, b/c Sakuraco does a great job & I loved the recent Zoom tour of Japan, but they are just not consumer-friendly. No more overnight DHL; their new shipper takes 2 weeks (which is why I wanted to skip the hot summer months, but I can't) and tracking showed up 6 hours after package was lying downstairs. I see June Mystery items now show complete ingredient lists, and the additives and chemicals are now there for everyone to see. I'm guessing prices are bound to increase, so I would probably have canceled sooner or later.”
