Originally published at: We love these artisanal treats from Japan | Boing Boing
…
This looks right up my alley, but yeesh, that’s a bill. Probably not super unreasonable, to be sure, just a big chunk to pay up front for a subscription box.
By comparison, Spouse gifted me a year of Universal Yums Boxes for the last couple years, and the medium-size box is half the price at $300, with 10-12 items per box. (The 5-item box is $180.)
That said, authentic and varied Japanese foodstuffs of this sort can be hard to come by, at least in my area. Like I said, not necessarily a bad price (actually, would love a knowledgeable evaluation!) but certainly outside my own budget. :-/
2 Likes
You can do just as well by finding a Japanese supermarket. The biggest chain nationwide is Mitsuwa. But there are other options. My old roommate from Tokushima much preferred Tensuke when we lived together - less selection but cheaper.
H-Mart has a ton of locations and has a lot of Japanese-y stuff too, or at least similar products if they are Korean.
4 Likes
We’ve got a good variety of Asian groceries in the area (mostly Chinese and Korean, with all of them catering to the broader pan-Asian community to some extent) and I’m sure I could find some of these things without having to drive more than an hour. That said, a big chunk of what I think I would value from the box is the curation, but I don’t think that justifies the premium over retail for me.
Maybe I should take on an exchange student and go shopping with them.
2 Likes
If shipping from Japan weren’t so expensive, I could hook people up with everything in those boxes for like 20 bucks and still make a good profit.
4 Likes
Dear Sir, your ideas are intriguing to me and I would like to subscribe to your treat box service.
3 Likes
I sent my mom and sister a package of “only in Japan” snacks of all types for Christmas. It came to around 3kg of both sweet and salty goodies (plus a few odd things like strips of dried squid). The snacks cost around the equivalent of 25 dollars. The shipping (par avion) was more like 65 dollars. Maybe if I went with sea freight?
2 Likes
And buy them some groceries as a thank you.
If you’re just interested in snacks and confections I recommend the Bokksu Box (yes I’m aware it’s a tautology). It’s pricey too (shipping from Japan is expensive) but I’ve discovered some pretty cool things from it.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
