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I wasn’t expecting to receive any boxes in the mail today, so I was surprised (in a good way of course), to see the Skoshbox in my mailbox! Skoshbox is a brand-new monthly subscription box which delivers straight-from-Japan goods that include candies, snacks, stationery, and fun items that are sure to put a smile on your face.
Shoshbox ships from Hawaii, via USPS and got to me in MI in three days. Seriously. I think looked at the cost of the postage and umm, it was less than $4! AMAZING!
Eeek! I was not at all disappointed by the first / second looks. I have a thing for foreign candy (and I love having friends overseas that are happy to send it to me) and this was totally up my alley. I always thought there should be a foreign candy subscription box. And here it is!
I was so happy to see an information card in this box, however, it was a bit of challenge to match the descriptions to the items. But B and I figured it out as we tested each of the pieces and I *think* we got everything correct. Here’s what the Skoshbox contained:
~Look Chocolate: Look Chocolate is a chocolate bar with a green tea filling and two “savory centers” – milk and azuki (a GTS and it’s a bean). Only I didn’t read the card before I tried this. I just looked at the picture and was all, ohh, chocolate and mint! Because to me, green filling = mint! Not so much! B and I didn’t love it, but maybe that’d because we were both expecting the taste to be way different. We should have for sure read that card first!
~Orange Bubble Gum: This is a classic fruity favorite with kids in Japan. I didn’t try it because I don’t like gum (I know it’s odd). And we were so busy eating candy B didn’t get a chance to try it. But he totally will!
~Koala’s March: These are chocolate cream filled cookies and are fabulous! They remind me of those Hello Panda ones you can sometimes buy at in the One Spot at Target. Only these are better. L even sampled these with us and wanted more. Totally yummy!
~Kaki No Tane: Kaki No Tane is a mix of spicy rice crackers and peanuts. B and I thought it was really good and sort of bar mix like. But not super salty, which I think is the part we liked.
~Senbei: Senbei is the classic rice cracker. It’s seasoned with soy sauce and is very cripsy. We thought it was similar to rice cakes, but yeah, more cracker like.
~Milk Hardcandy: Skoshbox describes this as a milkshake like hardcandy. B snatched this right up and described it like a Werther’s Original candy. He really liked it.
~Umaibo: These were probably the most interesting of the items in the box. They are a puffed corn snack that comes in a bunch of flavors, including shrimp and mayonnaise, pizza and curry. We have no idea what the flavor of the yellow one (on the left) is, but we thought it tasted like funyuns! We after both tested it, B gobbled it up in about two seconds. We are fairly sure the one on the right was pizza flavored. It was good, in an odd way. If I came across these again, I’d totally buy more.
~Haichu: Haichu is a soft chewy fruit candy. The red one for sure strawberry and was a combination of like taffy and gum. And very good. B ate the green one and wasn’t quite sure what flavor it was. And we have no idea what that fruit in the picture is. Anyone know?
~Marble Chocolate: Marble Chocolates are candy covered chocolates similar to m&m’s. Of course, I was all over these. They are just as good as M&M’s, but in a different way. I’d for sure snack on these in Japan. For sure.
~Choco Ball: Choco Balls are bite sized balls of chocolate with an almond in the center. Ours were a tad melty, but still yummy. I had one, B ate the rest. I am certain he’d have eaten more if there were more in the pack!
~Air-In Eraser: I’m not sure I knew that Japanese erasers were life changing, but I do now! Next time I actually use a pencil, I will test these out. I like to use pencils sometimes on craft projects but can never get it to erase totally. This might be the answer!
I didn’t do cost breakdown on this box, but I totally think it’s worth the $12/month cost of the box. B and L and I had a great time taste testing everything in the kitchen and since the snacks and goodies are different every month, it’ll never get any less exciting.
What do you think of Skoshbox? If you are interested in signing up (they are taking orders for their first box which is set to arrive on 8/1) or just want to learn more, click here!
I LOVE those milk candies! I might not have the exact name, but if you ever go into an Asian grocery store to the candy section, you should be able to find candy called Milk Chewy (they’re in a red bag with a little boy and maybe a cow?). They’re chewy milk candies, which sounds totally weird, but I like them even more than the hard candies!!
And Haichus were like, the staple of my college Japanese teachers when they gave out prizes in class 🙂
This box definitely reminds me of my childhood! I love the orange bubble gum and the koalas are good! The haichu (Hi-Chew) flavor is melon flavored I think.
Umm…yes. Ordering immediately. I love those haichus (sold as Hi-Chew in the states), but I’m pretty sure dentists do, too.
L looks SO happy! It’s also funny – we have a LOT of Japanese grocery stores around here – so I’ve had a lot of this candy already. Let me know if you want anything full sized and I can look for them!
I’m pretty positive the green candy was melon flavored – it’s a popular flavor (and fruit) in Japan.
the green candy is melon flavored! : ) this is an awesome box — i’m in (and from) hawai’i, so will be looking into this to send to friends on the mainland!
That red Umaibo on the right is octopus flavored. I’m not sure what the yellow one on the left is (it’s written on the very top of the package).
Super cute!! My girls would LOVE all the little anime critters on these packages!!
B looks like he’s unsure about what’s in the box, so he’s using a tool to move stuff around before he puts a hand in there! LOL!
Ordered! Which was probably stupid due to the large number of Japaneese grocery stores in my area… I just realized… Oh well, I will save on gas! I hope they do the Look bar again. I love adzuki bean!
I’m with you, I love trying new candies, especially from other countries. I’m going to try this box. Thanks for the great descriptions.
Really cool box! Def reminds me of my childhood. I was born and raised in NYC’s Chinatown and we’re currently living in NJ. The Chinese supermarkets has a lot of those funky treats and in Jersey we have one of the biggest Japanese supermarkets here called Mitsuwa that carries all that stuff and a huge Korean market called H-Mart. Let me know if you want to try or are looking for anything and I’ll try to get it for you! Btw, you need to try that orange bubble gum-awesome burst of flavor!! Enjoy your box! xo
The one on the right is takoyaki – an octopus type snack.
I work about a block from San Jose’s Japantown so I regularly invade their little grocery store and stock up on strange candy and foods that half the time I have no idea what they are! This box so reminds me of that. Hmm….this would be a great subscription box to give to my husband so he doesn’t complain about the ones I get. Oh and maybe I’ll get this one for my Dad at Christmas (I just got him a six month Goodies subscription). You are such an enabler!!!
This box looks like a lot of fun — totally the kind of box I would sign up for if I got any! I love being able to shop on base still. The “foreign” treat corner is full of little goodies! Prawn cocktail chips and Knder bars are some of my favorites!!
Going have to try it
Ok, I’m from Hawaii and can probably get all of those at a local grocery store and I still want to subscribe to it. I’ll tell you this, Japanese snacks are ridiculously expensive unless you actually buy it in Japan. So $12 a month is a freaking deal. Then again, my friend will be coming back from Japan soon with a load of snacks I asked her to get for me while she was there. So I should probably wait.
LOVE this and might have to try it out after I eat up the rest of my Japanese snacks! My sister-in-law and her husband were stationed in Yokosuka, about 2 hours south of Tokyo, for 3 years. So, we got a LOT of snacks and things as gifts! We loved soooo many things from there. We went for a visit in April 2012 and LOADED up on familiar snacks, and lots of new ones. Bummer thing is that you’d find something you totally love and then it’s hard to find again. Did you know that there are LOTS of different flavors of Kit-Kats over there?? It’s like a treasure hunt finding them all. LOL!!! I’m excited to give this one a try.
The umaibo on the left says “onion salad” which is why it probably tasted like funyuns, and the one on the right like most people said is takoyaki flavored (octopus balls, a very popular dish/snack from osaka) not octopus balls like most people would think, but batter, chopped octopus, and some vegetables cooked into a ball shape and drizzled with different sauces and toppings. Amazing idea for a subscription box!
I order the monthly box for my fiance, she fell in love with the different flavors and taste. So her and our son are so happy that every month they will receive the box. Its good stuff and great surprise inside and I will not stop the monthly plan thanks!