Japan Crate September 2015 Premium Japanese Snack Subscription Review and Coupon Code

The September 2015 Japan Crate was exploding with sheer snack-tastic awesomeness. I think this might be the first international snack subscription that has sent bottled drinks! How cool is that?!
Japan Crate has three levels of subscriptions. First, there’s the Mini. This has 4-6 snacks and is $12. Second, there’s the Original that has 8-10 items (including a DIY kit) and is $25. Last and most spectacular (and just as tasty) is the Premium Crate and that’s what I’m reviewing today.The Cost: $30/month

What You Get: You’ll receive 12- 14 crazy, full-size Japanese candy & snacks, 1 guaranteed DIY kit, a revolving bonus item (from savory Cheetos to collectible figures), and a Japan-exclusive drink in every shipment.
Every box comes with a mini-mag describing the candies included, instructions for the DIY kit, facts about Japanese snacks and a little manga episode. It’s fun because you read it back to front.
There are no mystery snacks involved. You will know what you are eating when you get your Crate. This is something I really, really appreciate because too many snack boxes don’t give you any warning about what you’re about to taste! Also, if you  notice on the left side you’ll see that the contents of each row are labeled. The top row is what is in the Mini box. The middle row is the Original box and includes the top row and the Premium box encompasses everything you see on the page.
If you are subscribed, you are also entered into the running to win a Sugoi Crate that is packed with all sorts of amazing products! This month there’s a PS4 among many other things!
Lemon Squash– I was so confused by this at first because all I could feel was weird squishiness through the plastic. When I opened it, it all made sense. This is Japanese lemonade. You can drink it straight or over ice. The bottle doesn’t stand up by itself so you better want to drink it all when you open it! I tried it and it tastes like… liquid otterpops. I bet this would be amazing frozen. The bottle is plastic so you could totally do it.

Litchi Ramune– Why is Japanese stuff so COOL?! You can’t tell from this photo (or probably any photo) but there is a marble that is stuck in the bottle opening. It’s supposed to be that way. So you take off the cap and break it apart to create a little tool that will pop the marble out of the opening of the bottle and into the drink. Weird, right? Well, the marble is now inside the bottle but they made the bottle neck in a shape that catches the marble so it won’t go all the way down to the bottom and instead causes it to rock in a side to side motion as you drink from the bottle.  I can’t think of a logical reason for this. But it was really fun. And it tasted good.
Calbee Seaweed and Salt Potato Chips– So that explains the weird taste. I don’t like seaweed. These chips are not super crispy, they’re kind of soft but thin. For hating seaweed as much as I do, I did eat half the bag… Not sure what that says about me. 😀

Full Gurt– These are mango and blueberry flavored candies with what appears to be layers of yogurt. They actually taste fruity and delicious.
Meiji Fran Chocolate Cream– These are like double dipped Pocky sticks. A nice thick layer of chocolate covers the stick that’s made with real butter. They were delicious. They were the first thing I ate. Aaaand the first thing I finished.

Glico Pretz Sweet Corn– I’ve never had these before and the taste was a surprise. At first I thought I didn’t like it. But then I ate the whole bag. Sooo, yeah. They tasted like buttered corn. Really good. I’d buy these if I saw them in the store. I’d buy the Meiji Fran’s, too.
I kept pulling treat after treat out of this box. It’s really quite a lot of candies and treats, I must say. In this photo please note the small candy in the center. I took so many pictures I forgot which was what. The candy in the middle is Kawarinbo and is a 3-in-1 lollipop with a stick of cola flavored gum as the sucker stick! What?! I don’t even know but I’m totally going to eat it.
There is a featured candies section and the Kawarinbo is one of them! The other is Konpeito, which is something I’ve had many times.
Konpeito Sugar Candy– Konpeito is a hard candy made from sugar. It was brought to Japan by Portuguese traders waaay back in the 16th century. According to the mini-mag, these candies take 7-13 days to make because they’re made by coating layer after layer of sugar syrup over a coarse sugar core. In other words… Sugar high!

Every Premium Crate comes with a Bonus! This month’s bonus is a keychain.

Gudetama Gashapon– A gashapon is a Japanese toy that you get from a vending machine. In Japan, you can pretty much get anything in a vending maching. Including ladies underwear and beer. Yes. I was there and saw them. I did not buy the underwear but we did get beer. Beer vending machines are all over the place on the streets in Tokyo.
Anyway, this is Gudetama. He is apparently an egg (yolk, maybe?) and he is very lazy. Hence his reclining position. There are several you could get.
Nata de Coco Grape Gummy– These are jellies made with coconut water. They appear to have a light dusting of sugar. I’m really weird and grape flavoring triggers migraines for me. I know, I know. I have no idea. It’s the weirdest thing. I haven’t explored specifics (and I can eat grapes just fine) and just avoid grape flavored things. My husband, however, loves grape and he ate these and said they were really good and quite flavorful.

Glug Glug Want Chocolate– Sometimes the names of these things just make me laugh. This is two fish shaped wafers with chocolate filling in the middle. It was pretty meh and I didn’t finish it. Especially with all the other tasty things in the box.
Moko Moko Toilet 3– Yaaaass!! A friend had told me she got a toilet in her box and I was desperately hoping for one in mine. Woohoo! I got the France version but there are a couple others.
Heck yeah, I put it together! And then I mixed the powder until the toilet bubbled over. It is not the best tasting thing although it is pretty sour but that was more fun than someone my age should probably have. 😀 I put the eyes under the toilet lid for a more disturbing effect.

VERDICT: Omg, that was amazing! Japan Crate is FUN!! Getting drinks is wonderful, a DIY kit is always a good thing and there was a nice combo of savory and sweet in here. This is the kind of box the whole family can dig into and have fun with. Or you can get it for yourself because I had a lot of fun. Okay, I did share but I bet I could eat it all myself. For $30 I think this is a really good Japanese snack option. I felt like it was totally worth that.

Japan Crate ships worldwide! Shipping in the US is free and shipping outside of that is $10-$15 depending on your country. If you would like to sign up for Japan Crate, you can do that right here on their website! Use code BITBOX to get $5 off your first Premium Crate!

Thank you, Amanda! She found a coupon code: For the next 48 hours you can use the code halloween to get $5 off October’s Premium or Original Japan Crate.