Freedom Japanese Market Review ~ Boxnip: A UK Beauty & Lifestyle Blog

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Freedom Japanese Market is a monthly Japanese snack & candy subscription box – I know this is a break from the normal beauty posts that I make but there is more to me than just skin care and makeup. There are many things I enjoy in life and like the majority of people I love a good snack or candy. It’s also good to try new things and towards the end of last year my 13yr old daughter wanted to sign up for a Japanese snack subscription. She picked WOW box and it was ok; plenty of snacks & candy but a lot of repetitive things and the big box it came in was deceiving as there was big air pockets taking up a third of the space. I decided that it wasn’t that good value for the money and cancelled it after about 3 or 4 months.

Now, the lovely people at Freedom Japanese Market kindly agreed to send me a box to review. Let me first say that Freedom Japanese Market is family run by Ken, Sanae and their two children who love to do the official taste testing and quality control and I love that; it feels a lot more personal when you know it’s run by a family. They’re in the top of my list for their customer service; they are just so friendly and helpful. That in itself is a rare thing and I was very impressed with them before I even received my box.

The box arrived safe and sound and was not damaged; surprising after it’s long journey to the UK. I was excited to open it and the first thing I noticed was, no bubble wrap and no air bags! You know why? I’ll tell you, because Freedom Japanese Market packs all the items in so carefully and precisely that no space is wasted and there is no need to add air bags or bubble wrap. I actually asked if they played Tetris when packing lol I mean, just look how full and well packed the box is.

Oh, and another thing I just love is the fact that they take the time to make an Origami of the Month and include it in every box each month. I mean, how adorable is that? It’s such a nice touch. This month it was a snail, and kudos to the Origami maker; it’s so cute, I love it especially as I use a lot of skin care with snail mucin in it! I’m going to take good care of it and you might even see it in some future photos.

The second thing that impressed me was how many items were in the box; and that they weren’t small things either like some other boxes put in. Also really useful is that the box comes with a sheet explaining the months selection, the Origami of the Month and on the reverse you can find all the details of the snacks and candy. This months box contains

…a combination of summer exclusive flavours and fun candies.

So, shall we get on and take a look at all the tasty snacks?

I think anyone that has ever done or seen an unboxing of a Japanese snack box will recognise this tasty snack. This is a Corn Pottage Umaibo. It’s a really moreish puffed corn snack and this flavour tasted really nice and you could definitely taste the sweet corn flavour in it.

These Fried Potato chips are salty and delicious, a little bit like French Fries but much lighter. My daughter especially enjoyed them.

We then had something with quite a bit more flavour in the shape of a Croquezu. This is a rice cracker flavoured like a croquette which is essentially a fried roll containing potatoes or meat. This indeed had a savoury meaty flavour. It also visually reminded me of a fried croquette too.

This fun snack is shaped like a carrot, or Ninjin in Japanese, and contains sweet puffs of rice. Most definitely not carrot flavoured I can assure you. They kinda reminded me of Sugar Puffs; sweet and very hard to put down.

BONUS ITEM: This adorable little Unchoko in the shape of a cute panda contains little tasty balls of grape chocolate. I know, grape chocolate? I was a little dubious how this would taste but it was actually really nice. Colourful little balls of grape chocolate covered in a crispy candy shell. These were a really pleasant surprise. Oh, and interesting little fact, the name of this chocolate is a play on words between ‘chocolate’ and ‘poop’ lol

This Watermelon Gum was very nice; you can taste the wonderful watermelon flavour made even more real by the tiny edible seeds in it. I love this about Japanese snack and candy, they always seem to do a fantastic job on flavours.

Sadly this Premium Curry Katsu didn’t go down quite as well as the other snacks. I’m not a lover of curry and whilst we didn’t hate it we didn’t love it either but then that’s the great thing about subscribing to a box like this because you get to try things you wouldn’t usually. It’s no reflection on the snack itself. Just our personal taste.

Oh, now this snack, Curl. Oh boy, I thought we might all fight over this one! Really, really tasty cheese corn puffs. They have such a fabulous cheese flavour and they are light and crispy. You could easily just keep reaching for these and then suddenly discover the packet is empty! I think this was my favourite snack in the box.

This Maken Gummi was in the taste of an energy drink and it really did taste like one. I love these gummis because they are so soft and chewy and packed with flavour. This is the second time we’ve tried one of these and it was just as nice as I remembered, although the other one was a different flavour.

Of course a Japanese snack & candy box would not be complete without some form of Pocky. This one has a mild, milky flavour and we all loved this one. Can’t really go wrong with biscuits and chocolate.

I’ve never been keen on Marshmallows, it’s not really the taste of them it’s the texture that I don’t like. However, my son really liked enjoyed this Mashuro.

Ahhh yes, the only 2 items that weren’t quite 100% perfect condition on arrival were the KitKats which sadly had melted a little bit during the journey. It certainly did not affect their taste though. I’m not really a lover of dark chocolate but I tried one and I have to say, I’m a convert where these are concerned. I really, really liked it.

These tasty little cookies were so cute and very delicious. Soft, buttery and you could taste the vanilla running through it. The Country Ma’am cookies definitely get a BIG thumbs up from us.

Lastly, this Tezukuri Ramune candy kit. I have never attempted any of these type of kits. My daughter has, and she hasn’t had much success. I will make this kit at a later date and do a separate review on it but it looks like it will be fun and hopefully tasty too.

my Overall Thoughts on Freedom Japanese Market

*Phew* I’m all snacked out now lol I think the Freedom Japanese Market box contains an excellent selection of savoury snacks and sweet candy. There is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy and there’s the element of surprise every month wondering what will be packed into this fantastic subscription box. Everything you receive is very fresh and you know that you are going to receive only the best snacks and candies that have been personally selected by Ken and his family. I also think that it is very obvious that a lot of time, attention to detail, thought and love has gone into each and every one of their boxes. It’s not just some random snacks thrown into a box. They also love to interact with their customers and any company that does that gets a big thumbs up from me. I think overall, you’re made to feel more like a friend than just some random customer.

The very friendly and helpful Ken at Freedom Japanese Marketalso kindly supplied me with this very useful information about Freedom Japanese Market for my readers.

Free Shipping Worldwide
All products are shipped fresh from Japan. These items have never seen the inside of a container ship.
Most of the items are sold exclusively in Japan. Also, most boxes contain some limited edition snacks and candies that are only in Japanese stores for a month or two. Note: The “Made for foreign market” versions of these products sold in most Asian markets are usually made in third-party countries, and shipped in container ships to different parts of the world.
An itemized list with pictures is included in each box, so you don’t have to read Japanese.
About a pound of candy and snacks are packed into each box.
We only ship products we would eat ourselves, and only send boxes we would be happy to receive as a gift.
You can subscribe through PayPal for maximum security
Club members can buy additional boxes and send them (to other addresses) as gifts. Some companies use these boxes as corporate gifts or thank you packages for hard-working employees. You can also get all of your holiday shopping done quickly this way!
You can create a gift subscription that sends a monthly care package to a friend or relative.
You can create a one-time payment for boxes sent out over 3, 6 and 12 months. This is perfect for our German customers who have PayPal systems that do not allow online subscriptions. http://www.freedomjapanesemarket.com/subscription-box-3-6-and-12-month-packages.html#.Vc4tBGAbBBw
Cancel at any time without fees or penalties.

There are several different subscription options available to you.

Puchi Pack – A mini version of the original subscription box. This smaller taste of Japan includes 5 to 8 Japanese snacks for only $12.99 a month. Free Shipping Worldwide!
Original Subscription Pack – Each box contains 12 to 16 full size and sample snacks, shipped directly from Japan for only $24.99 a month. Free Shipping Worldwide!
Family Pack – Double the snacks of the regular box so you can share with your family, office, or snack group. The $45.99 price includes Free International Shipping!

Alternatively you could order a one-off sample box to try or send one as a gift.