Bokksu Review – Prefecture Passion

The third and final box in my three month birthday Bokksu gift, November 2021’s theme was Prefecture Passion. The snacks in this box were from the widest range of locations so far, showing off lots of different regions in Japan. This box was also very sweet leaning in its snack selection, and still felt like it continued the autumnal theme of the previous box, Kansai Autumn, with apple, caramel and pie treats.

a double page leaflet explaining the theme of November 2021's Bokksu, Prefecture Passion
a two page leaflet showing where all the snacks in the November 2021 Bokksu, Prefecture Passion, are from

In November’s box, there were 13 different types of snacks – and including multiples, 22 items in total. There were three main savoury snacks; the Mike Popcorn: Yuzu Pepper, Karitto Crunchy Jaga Curry and the Yuzu Salt Koji Arare Rice Cracker (x3), for five savoury snacks total. That leaves 16 snacks in the sweet category, and one drink.

The Snacks!

Kisarazu blueberry Gummy – a single 40 gram resealable pack of soft gummies with a thick liquid centre. The gummies were bouncy and a little mochi like in texture, not super firm like a fruit pastille or gem. They were nice and sweet, with a pretty strong blueberry flavour. I got 10 in total in my pack. The map says these are from Tokyo.

a packet of blueberry flavoured gummy sweets next to a leaflet describing them
a single wrapped lemon soufflé cake next to a leaflet describing them

Yuzu Soufflé – a single wrapped cake slice with no given weight, but similar in size to previous cakes, just a few bites. Opening the little packet, the yuzu smell is lovely and intense. The cake is super light and springy, with a really enjoyable citrus flavour. There were tiny hard chunks of peel which make it more texturally interesting. Very enjoyable, and works really well as a quite petite snack, a much bigger slice would probably be less enjoyable since it’s so simple. Very classy.

Shinshu No Koibito x3 – a very unusual treat, presented in simple bright red wrapping – it was a boat shaped wafer biscuit filled with dried slivers of apple and a soft-ish caramel. The caramel apple flavour is delicious, you can really taste the apple. The texture is lovely too, both the wafer and filling are crispy and crunchy – really adding to the apple like experience. I’d love a whole bunch of these.

three individually wrapped apple and caramel crisp treats next to a leaflet describing them
two individually wrapped persimmon flavoured mochi next to a leaflet describing them

Dried Persimmon Mochi x2 – soft squishy mochi with no filling, bright orange in colour and a lovely persimmon flavour. You can buy persimmon here in the UK, and they have a lovely mild sweet flavour – the leaflet describes it as like honey and cinnamon. Real persimmons are sweet and very juicy if you get nice, ripe ones – honey isn’t a bad comparison, but they also remind me of pairs and melons. The mochi themselves were lovely and mildly sweet, with that familiar mochi texture.

Black sesame soft candy x3 – a small soft sweet flavoured with milk and sesame. Opening the packet, you get a strong pleasant sesame flavour and a small chewy sweet ball that is grey and speckled – I assume with ground sesame. It was nice and creamy alongside the prominent sesame flavour. I wouldn’t describe it as chewy like a toffee, it’s more like a piece of fudge. Tasty and unusual.

three individually wrapped soft black sesame seed sweets next to a leaflet describing them
a single large wrapped melon flavoured cake with a cream filling next to a leaflet describing them




Muskmelon Bouchée – a large split cake bun with a strong cantaloupe melon cream filling. The sponge was very fine textured, soft and bouncy. The leaflet described this as ‘bite sized’ but honestly it’s the biggest cake piece in the three Bokksu boxes I’ve had. Very enjoyable, tasty and moist.

Funwari Meijin Mochi Puffs: Gomadare Mochi – another repeat, a Bokksu favourite with a new flavour. Mochi puffs are light, dehydrated mochi that disintegrate and dissolve as soon as you start to eat them. This time they were a lovely mild sesame flavour, pleasant and just a little sweet. I think I actually liked these more than the kinako because while those ones were sweeter I thought the flavour powder was a little too thick/strong. This time I feel like it was just right. The pack had no weight but there were six small puffs.

a packet of dried black sesame flavoured mochi next to a leaflet describing them
three packets of asuki matcha rice cakes next to a leaflet describing them

Matcha Azuki Crunch x3 – a small trio of snacks, with no given weight. Each one is a crunchy slice of bright green puffed rice and adzuki bean that mostly tastes like a matcha chocolate (white chocolate, most likely) mix is holding it together. It’s sweet and nice, I didn’t get a very strong matcha or adzuki flavour, but there was very good crunch texture.

Beniimo Purple Yam Pie – a single wrapped mini round pie with no weight. It’s a small pie, about the size of a cookie. The pastry was soft and flaky, you could see the layers in the cross section when you bit through. The filling was moist and sweet with a mild sweet potato flavour. In the UK I don’t think we sell specifically yams – I think sweet potatoes are the closest thing. The filling was a lovely bright violet, and the packaging was cute. A super fun and unusual item.

a single wrapped purple yam pie next to a leaflet describing them
a single large packet of yuzu pepper flavoured popcorn next to a leaflet describing them

Mike Popcorn: Yuzu Pepper – an impressively large 45 gram bag of yuzu pepper popcorn. It was a generous pack size even in the UK. The flavour was delicious – spicy and punchy, lingering on your tongue while also having that lovely floral citrus flavour of yuzu. A real novelty flavour of popcorn that I think would sell well anywhere, I’d eat these regularly. Very hard to resist eating the whole pack in one go – myself and my other half finished it off between us pretty quickly.

Karitto Crunchy Jaga Curry – a cute little ten gram pack of chip shaped rice crackers. These were again that familiar Japanese/chip shop curry flavour – very sweet and aromatically spicy. A nice little snack, I’d love to get more of these.

a packet of curry flavoured rice crackers next to a leaflet describing them
three individually wrapped yuzu salt crackers next to a leaflet describing them

Yuzu Salt Koji Arare Rice Cracker x3 – three individually wrapped small puffed rice crackers, with no printed weight. They smelt quite strong, citrus and floral and savoury all at once. They had a lovely, airy puffed crunch and a very strong yuzu and briny salt flavour. They almost taste a little seafood like, which I assume is the fermented rice/Koji flavour. They were very interesting and unusual, the packaging was fun and it was great to have something with such a strong flavour.

Uji Sencha green tea – a single wrapped pyramid style green tea bag with a total weight of 2 grams on the packet. A mild and almost savoury green tea. It’s delicious and simple and something I could drink everyday. Like most green teas you’re directed to brew in a fairly small amount of water – 180cc – for two to three minutes and enjoy without milk. I did add one sweetener to mine.

a single wrapped pyramid style uji sencha green tea bag next to a leaflet describing them

Final Thoughts

As mentioned in the opening, I am leaving Bokksu at this three month gift stage – it is lovely, and exciting, and every box has items that I’ve never had or even heard of before. I feel like this box might have been my favourite and it certainly had some of my favourite items in it – specifically the very flavourful Yuzu Pepper Popcorn, and the delightful Shinshu No Koibito. Winter and Christmas are pretty expensive times of year though, and I think after having it as a gift, right now a £30 ish a month subscription box might be a bit much just to have because. I hope to pick it up again in 2022 – and might even ask for it as a Valentines gift, and see what the service is like in Spring. I’m sure the Winter month boxes are lovely however – the next box teaser says the December box will be all about Hokkaido. Until next time!

a spread of the whole contents of the November 2021 Bokksu, Prefecture Passion

Bokksu Review – Kansai Autumn

My first ‘regular’ Bokksu was the October 2021 Kansai Autumn box, a lovely selection of autumnal snacks from what Wikipedia calls the “cultural center and the historical heart of Japan.” Essentially a lot of the big cities and large population centres are within this region. Specifically, I had many snacks from Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara as well as one snack each from Kanagawa and Ikaraki, the latter two being not really in the Kansai region.

You can check out the very first Bokksu, the special ‘Seasons of Japan‘ edition that I’ve also written about last month.

a double page spread leaflet explaining the contents of bokksu's october kansai autumn box

This box had a lot more sweet snacks overall, though they are all still relatively understated for sweets, many of them combining well with tea or coffee. Just like last time, everything in the box was delicious, and a fun experience.


The Snacks!

Handmade Fig Candy – Another fancy handmade hard sugar candy from Daimonji Ame Honpo, this time fig flavoured. The sweets were a very pretty mix of reds and greens and with the more vivid colours this time I feel like you could appreciate the lovely glass bead look. Fig feels like a pretty unusual flavour that you don’t see often, they were sweet and very enjoyable. Like last time it’s was a single resealable 30 gram bag containing seven hard sweets. The map shows these are from Kyoto.

a single pack of fig flavoured sugar candy next to a leaflet describing them
two matcha white chocolate sandwich cookies next to a leaflet describing them

Kyoto Matcha Waffle Sandwich – Next were two large (no weight on packet) individually wrapped sandwich cookies. The cookie part was thin, crisp and waffle/wafer like – like they’d been fried on a griddle or thin stroopwaffle like waffle pan. The matcha white chocolate filling was smooth and mildly sweet. Very tasty and a great sized treat to have with a coffee or tea. The map shows these are from Nara.

Bisco Soy Biscuits: Milk & Kinako – Three small packets with no printed weight, and each small pack contains two extra small cream sandwich biscuits. The whole biscuit had a mild kinako – roasted soy bean – flavour that is actually quite comforting and pleasant. The creamy filling didn’t have a very strong flavour. The biscuit had a nice crunchy dry texture like a rich tea biscuit. They were very mildy sweet and simple, and do admittedly feel like they’re more for kids than adults, but were still nice to try. The map shows these are from Osaka.

three milk and roasted soybean sandwich cookies next to a leaflet describing them

three curry flavoured puffed rice snacks next to a leaflet describing them

Otona No Curry Senbei – The first savoury snack of the box, three small individually wrapped rice crackers. There’s no weight but they were pretty small. These were nice and super crunchy, with a lovely rich and spicy curry flavour. I think to many in the UK Japanese curry reminds them of traditional chip shop curry, and for good reason. They were really lovely, and I would have liked ten more. I preferred these over the small Bicso Soy Biscuits, but not as much as the Mini Awa Okoshi rice crackers mentioned later in this review, these were all so similar in size it seemed reasonable to compare them. The map shows these are from Osaka.

Nara Wa Langue De Chat Matcha Cookie – A different brand of cat’s tongue this time around, though once again there were two individually wrapped cookies. The cookie parts were very crisp and crunchy sugar snap style, with a buttery flavour. Unlike the waffle sandwich cookie, the langue de chat filling was a much stronger ‘in your face’ matcha – it feels like a pure matcha paste rather than the previous matcha flavoured white chocolate, and has a slight bitter tea aftertaste. Very enjoyable and mature, and would indeed go well with tea. The maps shows these are from Nara.

two matcha sandwich cookies next to a leaflet describing them
a milk manju, a sweet pastry, next to a leaflet describing them

Milk Manju – This Bokksu contained two Manju – a small pastry with a filling that reminds me of the anpan from my previous box. The first was a creamy milk flavoured 100 gram individually wrapped Milk Manju. It was lovely, creamy sweet and comforting. The whole thing is soft and moist with the creamy bean paste filling. I really liked these and the packaging was cute. The map shows this was from Osaka.

Yaki-imo Manju – The second 100 gram individually wrapped Manju is a more unusual flavour – at least in the UK, of Yaki-imo or roasted sweet potato. I’m not sure I could describe the roasted sweet potato flavour very distinctly, the whole thing was sweet, and creamy and autumnal. Very nice. The map shows this second manju was also from Osaka.

a roasted sweet potato manju, a sweet pastry, next to a leaflet describing them
a packet of scallion rice crackers next to a leaflet describing them

Kujo Scallion Arare Rice Crackers – The second savory snack in this Bokksu was a single 20 gram packet of simple seasoned scallion – or spring onion to those of us in the UK – flavoured rice crackers. The appeal of these crackers is how simple they are; savory, salty, nice and crunchy and with that lovely tang of spring onion flavour. The map shows these are from Kyoto.


Setouchi Heart-Shaped Lemon Mini Pies – The largest item in this Bokksu, a pack of 8 individually wrapped mini lemon pastry’s. They were very light and crisp, made up of many, many layers of buttery flakey pastry like a cinnamon scroll pastry. The leaflet describes the Setouchi lemons as sweeter than regular lemons, and the flavour was a very delicious lemon curd like flavour rather than sharp tart lemon. Very enjoyable and cute! The map shows these are from Osaka.

a pack of lemon pastry swirls next to a leaflet describing them
a packet of takoyaki flavoured snacks next to a leaflet describing them

Umaiwa: Takoyaki Corn Puff – The third and final savory snack of this box, two large (20 grams each) bags of ring and octopus shaped puffed corn snacks. These were very light and crispy, with a satisfying sweet, savory okinomi sauce and seafood flavour. Very easy to eat the whole thing without noticing, dangerously tasty. The cute, colourful packaging was nice too. The map shows these are from Ibaraki.

Mini Awa Okoshi – The final set of many tiny individually wrapped snacks – three individually wrapped puffed rice snacks with no weight on the pack. They were very light but also very sugar shatteringly crunchy from the sugar the puffed rice and black sesame seeds are wrapped in. Sweet and satisfying, I really liked the stem ginger/raw grated ginger flavour – it’s very different from a simple ground ginger and is a real punchy flavour for a packaged shelf item, it’s still really fresh tasting. My favourite of the three tiny snack pack items! The map shows these are from Nara.

three sweet puffed rice cake bars next to a leaflet describing them
a single golden financier cake slice next to a leaflet describing them


Golden financier – Like the previous Bokksu, this was a single wrapped cake slice with no weight printed on the pack, but about the same size as most of the single serve treats, like a mid-sized cookie. It was a moist and yummy cake, with a simple nutty and buttery flavour. Very straight forward and enjoyable. The map showed this item was from Osaka.

Uji Matcha Cappuccino – And finally the box ended with a tea, this time a single 12 gram sachet of instant matcha cappuccino. I feel like it’s going to be a running theme now with Bokksu to have green teas that make me – not much of a green tea enthusiast – enjoy them. Very frothy and pre sweetened – like many instant sachet style drinks – but with a lovely sweet, savory green tea flavour. I wish there had been more than one satchet! The map shows this item was from Kanagawa.

a single sachet of uji matcha cappuccino next to a leaflet describing them

So there were 22 items in this Bokksu, with one of them being a large multipack admittedly, so count that as you will. With only three items being savoury and one drink this box really focused on the sweet side of Autumn, but then I think a lot of people love and crave sweet snacks at this time of year, so who can blame them? I did think there was still a lovely variety among the sweet snacks with things that I’ve never had before, and some items were are clearly Bokksu classics and favourites. I also really like that you get multiples of most items, making it easier to share them or just portion them out and make them last – it’s nice to get to try things more than once! My November box actually just arrived yesterday here – a little earlier than this box managed to arrive the previous month but I have also just been a little slow to get this review up! I really loved this box, it fit the season and I enjoyed every snack. Until next time!

the complete contents of the October 2021 bokksu kansai autumn

Bokksu Review – My First Month, Seasons of Japan

For my 32nd birthday, Peter of Andsobegins gifted me a three month Bokksu subscription since I’ve always been a little curious about it, and I do enjoy a nice subscription box! For reference, I have previously had a TokyoTreat subscription, and about three years of a GlossyBox subscription.

A snack filled cardboard box with a welcome card and booklet of contents

Three months seems like a really nice place to start since I’ll get to try the very first box, which is always the ‘Seasons of Japan’ selection everyone gets to try, and then I’ll get to see what a few normal seasonal boxes are like over September and October. All boxes come with a booklet covering the theme, each item (including allergens) and has a map so you can see where things are from. Bokksu really wants you to feel like you’re exploring and experiencing Japan.

A map showing where all the snacks contained within the box are from

As the name suggests, the ‘Seasons of Japan’ starter box contains a selection of snacks for each season. Spring is full of sweet, pink floral flavours and even the one mostly savoury snack is still relatively sweet. Summer is almost entirely salty and savoury with a lot of citrus to enjoy. Autumn is back to being mostly sweet with warm caramel, apple and chocolate flavours that are practically universal to the season. Finally the box ends in Winter with some savoury, some sweet and even some green tea to try. I suppose as a sort of comparison, the actual box is smaller than say, a TokyoTreat box, but really is jam packed with items, while each season has four different items, you get multiple of a lot of these for a total of 22 items in the box.

A double page spread explaining what flavours typify each season in Japan

A lot of the value of this box as well again over something like TokyoTreat is that I do feel that not only does it have a more mature snack selection, but it’s a more unique selection too! A lot of the snacks aren’t things I can just grab from my local Asian Supermarket. So while you can certainly break the monetary value of the box down over the number of snacks, I suppose that feels like it’s missing the point – you’re paying for a new and interesting experience which is a lot of fun after a year and a half of…not having a lot of new experiences due to the pandemic.

Onto the Snacks!

The four snacks of Spring were Mocchan Dango Mochi (x2), Stick Potato: Suppa Mucho Plum (x1), 20th Century Pear Langue de Chat (x2) and finally White Strawberry (x2) for a snack total of seven.

Mocchan Dango Mochi – There are two packs, each containing a trio of pink, white and green coloured mochi – a rice cake made from glutinous rice and then dusted with sugar. These were not flavoured at all – it’s all about that soft, pillow-y mochi texture! Otherwise they’re just a nice sweet treat. Each little pack has fun, simple and cute packaging and weighs 30 grams, ten for each mochi. The map shows these are from Aichi.

Two packets of mochi next to a leaflet describing them
A packet of pink potato chips next to a leaflet describing it

Stick Potato: Suppa Mucho Plum – This is a single large snack pack, weighing 40 grams, of thin fry shaped crisps or potato chips. They’re very small and thin chips, much thinner than any UK chip shaped crisps. These had such a very cool, interesting flavour – they manage to be savoury and salty and sweet and sour all at once, just entirely delicious and unique! The packaging is cute and pink and the flavours are citrus and floral. The map shows these are from Tokyo.

20th Century Pear Langue de Chat – You get two packs of single individually wrapped sandwich biscuits. Each sandwich is two super thin slightly crisp biscuits around a cream filling. The whole thing feels very grown up and classy, with a nice pear and white chocolate flavour, and an extremely subtle hint of cheese flavour and scent. The map shows these are from Tottori.

Two packs of biscuits next to a leaflet describing them
Two wrapped white chocolate strawberries next to a leaflet describing them

White Strawberry – These are a made just for Bokksu item and are just amazing. There are two packs of individually wrapped white chocolate infused strawberries. The strawberries are normal sized, with no weight on the packet. It is a very ‘must try for yourself’ experience – it’s like each strawberry has been freeze dried and then all the space that contained water has absorbed white chocolate instead. The strawberry isn’t chocolate coated – it IS the chocolate. I could eat 50 easily. Extremely dangerous. The map shows these are from Nagano.

The four Summer snacks were Edamame Senbei (x2), Seaweed Tempura: Setouchi Sudachi (x1), Yuzu Sake Candy (x1), and Dondon Yaki (x2) for 6 snacks in total.

Edamame Senbei – There are two packs of a single large cloud and/or pea pod shaped cracker, with no weight on the packet. These crackers are puffed with a small empty pocket in the middle, very crunchy and satisfying. Each cracker has large edamame bits baked in and the whole thing is coated in an addictive soybean powder – very unassuming looking but actually delicious. Very savoury, salty and a little sweet. The map shows these are from Saitama.

Two packed of baked edamame crackers next to a leaflet describing them
One packed of battered fried seaweed chips next to a leaflet describing it

Seaweed Tempura: Setouchi Sudachi – A single large snack pack, weighing 100 grams, of tempura battered and fried seaweed squares. These are very deliciously seaweed-y, briny, salty, crunchy goodness. I could easily eat my own body weight in these things. The map shows these are from Hiroshima.

Handmade Yuzu Sake Candy – This is a small resealable pack of hard sugar candy flavoured with Yuzu and Sake. The total weight is 30 grams and the bag I received contained seven candies. They are a very subtle and enjoyable hard candy, with a mild citrus and pear like flavour if you have no frame of reference for Yuzu or Sake. The map shows these are from Kyoto.

A packet of yuzu and sake hard candy next to a leaflet describing it
Two packets of baked teriyaki flavoured snacks next to a leaflet describing them

Dondon Yaki – Summer wraps up with two small 12 gram each packets of fried puffed snacks. The art on the packet is super cute. This snack has the same irresistible savory, sweet and salty combination as many of the other snacks included in Bokksu that makes them so very dangerous – it’s easy to eat all of it before you know it. I’m not sure I’d describe the teriyaki flavour as that strong but they were still a delight. The map shows these are from Ibaraki.

Autumn‘s snacks are Kobocha Pumpkin Anpan (1x), Matcha Chocolate Stick Cake (1x), Black Sesame Taiko Kumamon Design (x1), and Aomori Apple Caramel Sable (x1) for the smallest snack season total of four.

Kabocha Pumpkin Anpan – A single small – with no weight given, but it’s about small cookie sized – bread/cake pastry filled with white bean paste and pumpkin. It was very tasty, and autumnal, while not too sweet. and just a nice simple comforting snack all round. The map shows these are from Hokkaido.

A wrapped pumpkin and white bean paste cake next to a leaflet describing it
A wrapped matcha green tea and dark chocolate cake slice next to a leaflet describing it

Matcha Chocolate Stick Cake – Another single wrapped cake slice, this time it’s a small finger sized slice of matcha green tea and chocolate cake. It was surprisingly soft and moist for something sealed and shipped around the world. The matcha favour is more subtle than the chocolate but is still definitely there, I feel like I get it mostly in the after taste when the chocolate flavour has faded. Otherwise it was very chocolate-y and also not super sweet. The map shows these are from Osaka.

Black Sesame Taiko Kumamon Design – A single pack weighing 25 grams of pressed seed and nut disc. The most savoury snack this season but it does still have some sweetness. It’s like a sesame seed rice cake – with a very nutty, mildly bitter savoury flavour and a little sweetness from the sugar to hold it together. Very interesting as a not sweet, sweet treat, and the packaging was super cute. The map shows these are from Kumamoto.

A wrapped black sesame seed snack cake next to a leaflet describing it
A wrapped apple caramel cookie next to a leaflet describing it

Aomori Apple Caramel Sable – A single 100 gram wrapped toffee apple cookie like biscuit. It has a soft uniform texture with a slightly squidgy centre that is a darker toffee colour. The whole biscuit had a subtle apple flavour, backed up by toffee/caramel – a very lovely comforting autumnal experience. The map shows these are from Aomori.

And finally Winter contained Funwari Meijin Mochi Puffs: Kinako (x1), Ashigara Green Tea Aranami Kurofuji (x2), Puku Puku Tai: Chocolate (x1), and Uni Rice Cracker (x1) for a snack total of five.

Funwari Meijin Mochi Puffs: Kinako – A single large bag of sort of dehydrated mochi? Like a lot of things in this box, this snack is a strange and interesting new experience. They are soft puff balls that seem a little crisp at first but basically dissolve and disintegrate as soon as they come into contact with your mouth/saliva. Subtly sweet, and with a heavy, heavy coating of roasted soybean powder that gives them an extra nutty and savoury dimension. The map shows these are from Niigata.

A single packet of dehydrated mochi next to a leaflet describing them
Two packets of green tea next to a leaflet describing them

Ashigara Green Tea Aranami Kurofuji – Two individually wrapped pyramid style green tea bags with a brew time of 40 seconds up to personal preference. As a not massive fan of green tea, I actually quite enjoyed this tea. The flavour is pleasant, light and kind of savoury but in a mild way. The brewed tea is a very pretty vibrant green and was wholly enjoyable to drink. The map shows these are from Kanagawa.

Puku Puku Tai: Chocolate – A single wrapped chocolate wafer in the shape of a red snapper weighing 16.5 grams. It smells deliciously chocolate-y as soon as you open the packet. While the leaflet describes it as airy chocolate mousse, mine had sadly been smushed flat in shipping so it was just a thin layer of chocolate more like a chocolate bar than a mousse. It had a lovely chocolate flavour with the nice contrasting texture of the wafer on either side. Like a lot of Japanese confections it isn’t actually super sweet, but this is to its credit. The packaging is super cute with striking orange, white and gold colours. The map shows these are from Aichi.

A single wrapped chocolate wafer treat next to a leaflet describing it
A single packet of rice treats next to a leaflet describing it

Uni Rice Cracker – And finally, a single large packet of savoury rice crackers. There were about eight or so large round crackers meant to evoke a sea urchin. Flavour wise they’re salty, savoury and mildly fishy/seafoody. Overall a light and simple snack. The map shows these are from Osaka.

A few words on Cost/Price

Bokksu comes in a variety of price points, like a lot of subscription services that all depend on how much money you can put up right away. If you can pay up front each box only costs $39.99 – this is £28.90 per box at time of writing – but you have to be able to pay the full twelve month $479.40 (£346.44) sum up front to get that per box price. There is a six month option of $42.95 (£31.04) per box which is $257.70 (£186.23) up front. There is a three month option of $44.95 (£32.48) per box which is $134.85 (£97.45) up front. These two options could be the most popular, as they seem like fairly reasonable gifts for close loved ones. And finally, you can pay $49.95 (£36.10) rolling each month if you like the month to month flexibility. I can absolutely see saving $10 or about £7.20 per box being really worth it if you really liked the service or were sure the person you were getting really liked the service. You’re saving £86.40 a year, which is pretty close to the cost of a three month subscription, and definitely covers a free box a year even just using the full monthly cost. This makes it pretty comparable to other subscription service savings for getting a whole year.

The other important thing to note cost wise against Bokksu’s main competition TokyoTreat is that during the pandemic they removed the free shipping option for most and then I think all countries, meaning that while their box on face value is cheaper on every tier – their per month rolling is $35 (£25.29) and a whole year is $378 (£273.16) up front, that doesn’t include shipping, which is either $10.50 (£7.59) or $12.50 (£9.03) a month extra, every month. You can find the shipping information on ( Important! Major Shipping Method Updates!).

For me in the UK the shipping is $12.50 meaning really the rolling box price is $47.50 (£34.32) making them pretty comparable in price. I don’t know how fair it is to judge TokyoTreat for their shipping policy, I do assume they’re a bigger company than Bokksu so maybe they should be able to absorb that extra cost themselves but who knows. Bokksu has no hidden extra shipping cost that displays after you sign in – you CAN pay for extra insurance, and like TokyoTreat used to do, this extra cost is entirely optional. I didn’t pay it, and got my box fine.

Final thoughts for now

I really enjoyed this first month of Bokksu, I do think you get a more mature premium snack experience with snacks I couldn’t really access outside of just…being in Japan. Whatever your feelings on the cost, it is a new and interesting experience, I loved everything in the box. I liked that a lot of the sweet snacks were not overly sweet, and the interesting range in products. It also has that greyer area in terms of value in that as this was a gift, I don’t think I can make a fair or fairer call on is it good value. I do think gifts can be nice in that it’s something you wouldn’t get yourself or feel like you could justify getting yourself. If you wanted a cheaper monthly treat in the UK there are so many options out there, it all really depends on your budget, and what you want.

I am definitely looking forward to the next box!