Freedom Japanese Market – September 2017 Review & Coupon

$14.99-$45.99/month–Free international shipping!

Ships from Japan

*Use “beejuboxes” in the comment box upon checkout to receive a free additional snack!

Run by an expat family in Japan, Freedom Japanese Market offers three sizes of Japanese snack boxes: Puchi, 5-8 snacks ($12.99.month), Original, 12-16 snacks ($24.99/month), and Family, with 2x the snacks of the Original ($45.99/month).

Every curated box includes an English content list and hand made, seasonal origami. Shipping is FREE Worldwide. Longer subscription plans also come with a discounted price. You can also purchase a single box with no subscription in each size for $16-$50 depending on size. I’m reviewing the original size.

The info sheet lists all the snacks with a brief description, as well as their origami of the month. For September, the origami is a mushroom that signals the arrival of fall. It’s finally cooling down here in Japan, and it’s exciting to see fall flavors popping up in stores.

Mentai Umaibo

Umaibo are a popular addition to Japanese snack boxes, and I’m not complaining. These puffed corn sticks come in a variety of flavors. This one is mentai flavored, which is pollock roe. It’s a super popular flavor here in Japan, especially on pasta. It has a slightly spicy and fishy taste, with a good amount of salt.

Tonkatsu Umaibo

The second Umaibo in this box is flavored with tonkastu sauce. Tonkastu is a friend pork cutlet (and one of my favorite comfort foods). It’s always served with a specific tonkastu sauce, which tastes like a vinegary barbeque. This Umaibo is has a super strong tonkatsu sauce flavor, with a little more kick that your typical sauce. I really enjoyed the bold flavor!

 

Choco Daifuku

Daifuku is basically mochi (a pounded rice dessert) with a sweet filling. This little treat reminded me a lot of a chocolate filled marshmallow. I liked how rich and frosting-like the filling was. It’s pictured with this month’s mushroom origami–so cute!

Champagne Cider Candy

This is a little tray of chewy candy that comes in different flavors and includes a toothpick for easy eating.  It’s supposed to be flavored like champagne soda (akin to ramune), but I didn’t really taste any other flavor besides sugar. It is fun to spear the little candies with the toothpick though.

Little Gang

This little bag of popping candy is fruit flavored. The package recommends putting it on ice cream, but I just ate it as it. I really liked how strong the fruit flavor and sour powder were inside.

Orange Queen Yogurt

This little treat is an orange flavored yogurt snack. The texture threw me off a little–it’s similar to marshmallow spread. The flavor of this wasn’t my favorite, but the little package is cute.

Fruity Caramel Corn   

This brand of caramel corn is my favorite! They come out with lots of seasonal flavors, and this one is fruit au lait flavored (aka, fruity milk). The flavor was balanced nicely–the fruit wasn’t too strong or artificial tasting. I finished the whole bag!        

Kinbaku Iri

These little hard candies are soda flavored. They tasted great, but what won me over was the cute packaging! It includes a little fortune (“omikuji”) under the back flap. I got a good fortune on mine! You can decipher your fortune here.

Pineapple Potato Chips

I have to admit–I was a little hesitant to try these! These potato chips are flavored like a popular pineapple hard candy. When I opened the bag, I immediately got the exact same smell as the candy! At first, I wasn’t sure about the flavor, but I found myself continuing to eat them. I actually really like the combination of sweet, salty, and fruity. The smell is super strong, but the taste itself is more balanced.

Kaki no Tane

Kaki no Tane literally means “persimmon seeds,” which refers to the seed-like shape of this rice cracker snack. It’s my husband’s favorite, and he really liked this flavor! They added a “sauce” flavor, which usually references a brown sort of BBQ sauce used on Japanese dishes. The sauce taste is strong, which makes this typical snack more interesting.

Hora Dekita! DIY

This DIY kit is fairly straightforward, with no measuring or mixing required. You make your own little candied apples topped with sprinkles. I actually really liked this DIY kit because it was both fun to make and tasty! Sometime DIY kits only taste so-so, but the apply candy included was really yummy.

Cheese Arare

These little rice crackers are flavored with cheese.  I liked how crisp they were, but I prefer a little more cheese flavor. It’s a very mild snack, and the packaging is cute.

Candy Mic (Bonus item)

This is a bonus item included in their regular and family packs. There are sweet ramune fizzy candies in a plastic microphone case. This is a fun addition for kids or the karaoke inclined!

Overall, I enjoyed the September box. Most of the items were new for me, even though I also live in Japan! The box arrived in great condition and was packed full. I appreciate all their box size options, the free worldwide shipping, and the mix of sweet and savory items. My favorites this month were the Kaki no Tane crackers, candy apple DIY kit, Little Gang popping candy, and pineapple potato chips!

starting at $14.99 up to $49.99 depending on size. The original box is $24.99/month. All boxes have free worldwide shipping. *Mention BeejuBoxes in the “Where did you hear about us?” section for bonus snack too!

 

PR Sample. All opinions are my own, and no compensation was received. Affiliate links are in this review, and they are noted when used.