My Sakuraco delivery, the first snack box I think I may have ever received in my life, arrived shortly after I had returned to Tokyo after visiting family and friends in my hometown over the New Year holiday—and it was an exciting moment indeed.
I felt like a kid on Christmas morning as I removed the outer packaging and caught sight of the bright-red Sakuraco box, accented with striking blue and gold touches. Carefully opening the box to peer inside, I saw that it was titled “A Kyoto Valentine’s” and was brimming with treats in honor of February’s love-themed holiday.
“I cherish every chance to visit Kyoto and wander through its lantern-lit streets, traditional machiya townhouses, and awe-inspiring temples,” writes Sakuraco founder Ayumi Chikamoto on the accompanying postcard. “What makes these moments special is experiencing them with friends and family, sharing sweets, sipping tea, and remembering that affection and love take many forms.”
Anyone who has visited Kyoto and experienced the city firsthand will know that it offers a full sensorial explosion of inspiring architecture, incredibly peaceful temples, a vibrant food and nightlife scene, and profound history that seems to infuse the surrounding atmosphere wherever you go. And while it is not possible to actually package that feeling up and send it elsewhere, Sakuraco has done a pretty amazing job of transmitting some of that special Kyoto magic through this box—which also includes a beautifully designed pamphlet with incredibly detailed descriptions of its offerings.
Some of the featured snacks inside the Valentine’s box are actual Kyoto classics, beginning with the legendary baked yatsuhashi—arch-shaped wedges (or bridge-shaped, going by its name) whose history dates back to the Edo era (1603 – 1868). They were exceptionally crispy, featuring the pleasantly subtle cinnamon flavor they are famous for. The Kyoto torii gate senbei cracker, meanwhile, which came courtesy of the locally-based Watanabe Confectionery, was light, airy, crispy, and perfectly salted. It was also inscribed with a design of the vermillion-red gates from the iconic Fushimi Inari Shrine, giving it that extra Kyoto touch.
Naturally, no Kyoto-themed snack box would be complete without the quintessential local specialty of Kyoto Uji matcha, and Sakuraco featured two styles: cream senbei from Seki Confectionery, and Tsujiri-no-Sato wafers from Gion Tsujiri, which both featured a delectable combination of smooth matcha encased in a crunchy sheath.
Two generously sized bags of Kyoto delicacies were also tucked inside, both seeming to ride the intriguing sensorial edge between salty and sweet: the addictively crispy Soba Boro cookies, made using domestic buckwheat flour; and Kyoto okoshi puffed rice snacks, which come in three versions—matcha, umejiso (pickled plum with perilla leaf) and peanut—thereby offering a flavor to satisfy all taste preferences.
Each seasonal Sakuraco box includes foods from manufacturers in prefectures around the country (not just the specific region being featured that month), and as such, the Valentine’s box featured numerous treats crafted by artisanal makers based outside of Kyoto. These included a scrumptious Amaou strawberry cake from the Kanazawa Kenroku Confectionery in Ishikawa, which was ultra moist and bursting with flavor; chocolate mochi from the Kubota Confectionery in Nagano—an incredibly spongy, gooey, and chocolatey affair—and strawberry chocolate crunch from Daiya Confectionery in Gifu, where fruity and deep flavors combine effortlessly inside tangy pink spheres.
For the lovers of savory snacks (including yours truly!), the yuzu salt arare from Morihaku Confectionery in Gifu offered a delicious blend of citrusy, salty, and crunchy. There were two of these included in the Sakuraco box, which disappeared nearly instantly (and, if I am being honest, I could have continued munching on them all day long).
Another adorable Valentines-esque addition to the box were miniscule-sized sweets that you can easily pop into your mouth whenever you need a pick-me-up, or take with you on the go. The first is a beautiful multi-colored array of chocolate drops, created by the Chirin Confectionery in Osaka. And the second, coffee jari mame (meaning pebbles, how cute is that?) from Tokainosan in Shizuoka features the unique flavor combination of roasted sunflower seeds inside a crispy coffee coating. Did I say addictive?
And speaking of coffee and addictive (!), rare indeed is the tea that catches my attention so thoroughly that I would consider swapping out my afternoon joe for it. The specialty tea included in this month’s Sakuraco box, however, just may be a contender. Coming courtesy of Sakuraco itself, this caramel bergamot hojicha features a luscious, swirling mélange of rich caramel, fragrant bergamot and roasty hojicha. Just sublime.
Another intriguing feature of Sakuraco is its spotlight on craftspersons in addition to edible snacks. The February box highlighted Ebru, an initiative based in Tokyo’s Arakawa district that creates tiny pouches as a way to repurpose vintage kimono fabric—thereby combining design and sustainability. Each pouch features its own distinct design from the individual kimono where it was sourced; mine has an adorable pattern of daisies in a rainbow of colors that are scattered against a backdrop of light peach.
Demonstrating another socially-conscious aspect of Sakuraco, the pamphlet explains that efforts are taking place in Japan to preserve the natural habitat of the country’s red-crowned cranes, which are described as animals known for their devotion to caring for partners and offspring (hence the Valentine’s Day tie-in).
So whether you are snacking out at home, need a gift to bring to a gathering, or want something to bring along on a picnic with a date, family, or friends (or even solo!), a subscription to a seasonal Sakuraco box offers a chance to dive into Japan’s fascinating world of artisans and craft—as well as its deeply storied food-related culture.
ICHIGO Inc., the parent company of Sakuraco, 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!