Now is the winter of our stewed oden made glorious springtime by…a snack box delivery!
Snack box subscription service TokyoTreat sends curated packages of seasonal Japanese goodies to avid J-snackers around the world. Subscribers can choose anything from a one-time delivery to an annual plan of 12 boxes per year; the service renews automatically but can be cancelled at any time. TokyoTreat’s boxes typically include popular Japanese treats such as rare KitKats, instant noodles, and jellies alongside crunchy bites, baked goods, and more.
I received their March 2026 box, titled “Sakura Spring Snackfest.” The pop-art package was stuffed full of pink goodies representing the famous cherry blossoms about to unfurl across the country.
In Japan, nothing symbolizes spring quite like cherry blossoms. The flowers represent both exquisite beauty and impermanence, key motifs in Japanese culture across the centuries. Blossom-viewing parties, called hanami, are a beloved tradition, and people gather under cherry trees with friends and family to appreciate the blossoms and make merry.
The country is home to many varieties of flowering cherry. Some of the most well-known are Somei Yoshino, a clone army cultivated through grafting so that they bloom simultaneously; weeping cherries with cascading branches; and mountain cherries found in rural areas. For more than a century, Japan has also used sakura for international gestures of goodwill, with both the government and individuals sending flowering cherry trees around the world.
Sakura are not only a feast for the eyes, they are a key seasonal flavor as well. It is said that mochi rice cakes filled with sweet red bean and flavored with salt-pickled cherry tree leaves became popular in Edo (now Tokyo) in the 1700s; the traditional sweets have since spread across Japan. It is this pickled-leaf taste that is used in many sakura-flavored snacks today, although some will go for a pink or floral sakura theme instead.
In addition to its various goodies, the TokyoTreat box came with a booklet containing descriptions of each snack, allergen information, and fun facts about the sakura season. It even included a map of Japan showing when cherry blossoms are expected to open in each region.
The snack I tried first was the sakura blossom cake, its package labeled delightfully with the decorative French phrase “Gâteau peurepos, a choisi les meilleurs.” The sakura flavor was gentle, the cake moist, and it was petit enough to be a cheeky elevenses treat.
Another product I used to stave off pre-lunch munchies was the rice crackers flavored with sakura and shrimp. The traditional sakura flavor was in evidence here more than the preceding cake, making it a useful snack for those wondering “Just what does sakura leaf taste like anyway?” Shrimp is another common rice cracker flavor, and it did not clash with the sakura. One small and delicate variety of shrimp used in Japanese cuisine is actually called “sakura shrimp,” which are typically dried in their shells and used as flavorings and toppings.
In addition to seasonal flower and fruit flavors, one item in the box had a connection to a symbolic spring: a pack of okonomiyaki-flavored corn puffs. Okonomiyaki — a kind of savory pancake cooked on a griddle — developed in Hiroshima and Osaka as Japan rebuilt itself after World War II, becoming a soul food in each city. Hiroshima ranks first in number of okonomiyaki shops per capita, so perhaps it’s fitting that the corn puff pack is illustrated with what appears to be a Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, characterized by yakisoba noodles and a thin layer of batter. I paired the okonomiyaki puffs with an herbaceous craft gin from Fukushima.
One treat with particularly quirky packaging was the strawberry milk candy, which resembled a cute little blister pack of pills. And, get this, the pills tell your fortune: Each piece of candy is labeled with a category, anything from likelihood of receiving a love confession to going to (or perhaps performing well at?) karaoke. My chances of taking a break were “high” while my chances of receiving a love confession were “zero,” according to the strawberry milk pills. I think they might be onto something here…
The largest snack of the box was a hefty bag of “sakura-flavored” KitKats. Japan’s wide variety of rare and unique KitKat flavors is well known, with over 300 flavors released since Nestlé started doing business in Japan in the 1970s. The packaging of the individually wrapped bars contains a blank space for one to write a message to a special someone. Sugar lovers will definitely enjoy this seasonal KitKat, whose flavor more closely resembles cake than salted leaf.
Other snacks in the box included strawberry cream cookies, a cherry blossom donut stick, and a pack of vegan shoyu ramen, offering a variety of textures and flavor profiles that any serious snacker is sure to enjoy.
ICHIGO Inc., the parent company of TokyoTreat, kindly sent us this snack box so we could try it out and share our honest thoughts with you. This page also has affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase a box through our website (at no extra cost to you, of course). Thank you so much for supporting Deep Japan!