See, Shop, Love!

I love anything Hello Kitty and I love snacks, so the Hello Kitty and Friends and Bokksu collaboration has been on my radar since it launched. I finally subscribed with the December box.

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love!

Bokksu is a premium snack subscription that sends authentic foods straight from Japan. All of their snacks are sourced from local Japanese businesses and each month’s box features a different city and/or theme.

The Hello Kitty collaboration is an official partnership with Sanrio and is a bi-monthly box with 16+ plus snacks and Hello Kitty items exclusive to Bokksu.

The Hello Kitty and Friends box is a bit more expensive than the standard Bokksu at $59.99 per month or $299. 94 annually ($49.99 every other month). Shipping is free from Japan and my box took about two weeks to get to me.

Your subscription also grants you access to the members-only Hello Kitty and Bokksu boutiques (two separate boutiques, only Hello Kitty subscribers can purchase from the Hello Kitty boutique) with a slight discount based on your membership tier.

I hesitated to subscribe in the past due to the price, but I had a 15 percent off coupon so I decided to finally give Bokksu a try. I signed up for the Hello Kitty and Friends box because, well, I love Hello Kitty and the past boxes looked like they had a great assortment of keepsakes and snacks.

The December box was themed “Hokkaido Holiday” and featured items themed around the snowy city. The hero item was a fleece blanket with the Bokksu logo and Hello Kitty and Friends characters, and there were a total of 15 snack packages.

Each box comes with a “Friends Guide” that includes details about all of the items, including the company that made them, the region from which they came, and any allergens. It’s really nice to learn about the individual businesses in Japan who are making the treats!

So although there were 15 individual packages, technically there were the promised 16+ snacks if you count each individual item (for example, four mochi inside one package). Here’s everything that was inside:

Hello Kitty Mochi – Strawberry by Bokksu x Hata Seika: These daifuku mochi (filled mochi) are made with shiroan (white bean paste) and strawberry juice filling. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of mochi, but I have to say I really enjoyed these. Maybe the mochi I’ve had in the past were just not up to par! Mochi is made with rice flour and is a chewy dessert. I also really love strawberry, so that helped, too.

Hello Kitty Souka Senbei – Black Pepper by Bokksu x Senbei Lab: It looks like there is a different flavor senbei in every box, based on past box contents. I’m not complaining because I love senbei (rice cracker)! This cracker was very peppery, and would probably be too strong for someone who doesn’t like a lot of pepper/spice. I enjoyed the combo of black pepper and soy sauce glaze, though.

Hello Kitty Chocolate by Tanseido Honpo – These little chocolates are so cute! They’re shaped like Hello Kitty’d head with her signature bow and have an omikuji, or fortune, in the lid. I wish they were bigger and/or that there were more of them!

Hello Kitty Handmade Yuzu Sake Candy by Bokksu x Daimoji Ame Honpo – It looks like these types of hard candies are also included in every box but the flavor varies. Yuzu is a type of citrus from Japan and these are made with real bits of it and 0.1 percent alcohol content from the sake. I didn’t really taste any sake, but the yuzu citrus was great.

Walnuts Kurumi Pie by Nakajima Taishodo – This was Pochacco’s treat, and it’s made with walnuts and koshi-an (sweet bean paste). Sweet bean is very popular in East Asian desserts, so I expected to receive at least one. The pie was light and flaky and I liked the “not too sweet” filling.

Yokohama Butter Sandwich Cookie by Takara Seika – I’m obsessed with this cookie and I wish there were more included. They’re also sold out on the Bokksu site right now 😭. It’s Kuromi’s treat and is a sweet buttercream cookie with a hint of salt. It was so delicious and I hope they get restocked soon!

Country Maam Butter Chocolate Cookie by Fujiya – Another yummy cookie offering! These were Badtz-Maru’s treat; buttery cookies dipped in milk chocolate. Simple, straightforward, and delicious. Two of these were included, but they were still small.

Hello Kitty and Friends Chocolate Pop by Fujiya – I received the Pompompurin pop, the cute dog character who loves pudding (purin). They were also available in Hello Kitty, Cinamoroll, Pochacco, and My Melody. I would have loved My Melody, but hey, chocolate is chocolate!

Hello Kitty and Friends Gold Medal Gummies in Grape by Tanseido Honpo – This was available in Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, and My Melody and I received Hello Kitty and was also Kuromi’s treat. I’m not sure if all are grape flavored or if the flavor varied based on the character. I haven’t opened it yet but I love grape flavor and I have a feeling it will be delicious!

Crunch Chocolate in Banana by Seiwa Shokuhin – This was one of Hello Kitty’s treats. I usually don’t love banana flavor, but this had a good balance of dried banana and chocolate. I probably liked it because it was actual banana and not artificially flavored. I really liked the crunchy texture.

Caramel Ganache Chocolate by Takaoka Shokuhin – These little chocolates were delicious and Hello Kitty’s second treat. They’re called Nama Chocolate and are popular in Japan and similar in texture to ganache. I love caramel with chocolate and can confirm, they have that smooth, melt-in-your mouth texture of ganache.

Hello Kitty and Friends Sticker – This is a cute sticker with Hello Kitty, Pochacco, Kuromi, and Badtz-Maru ice skating. An exclusive “sticker pack” is included in each box, past boxes have had sheets with multiple, smaller stickers and others have had a singular sticker like this one.

Hello Kitty and Friends Holiday Blanket by Bokksu – This blanket is the main reason why I subscribed. The design features Badtz-Maru, Kuromi, Pochacco, and Hello Kitty on a pink background with the Bokksu logo in white (the second photo is from the Bokksu Instagram). It’s very cute and I like how it’s actually exclusive — I feel that sometimes boxes say items are “exclusive” when they really aren’t, whereas this clearly was made by Bokksu and can only be purchased if you’re a subscriber. The blanket itself is thinner, but I expected that. I actually might use it for travel because of the thinner texture.

When I first subscribed to the Hello Kitty and Friends Bokksu I was under the impression that there would be more snacks. I know that the website says 16+, but I was a little let down by how small all of the snacks were. The cookies and chocolates were tiny and I feel the cost of the box mostly reflects the exclusive keepsake item, in this case, the blanket. That’s fine, as Sanrio products are priced pretty high and these are exclusive to the box, but after this box I cancelled my subscription to the Hello Kitty and Friends box and switched to the “regular” Bokksu, because it contains only snacks and I’d rather get those.

VIsit Bokksu to subscribe.

Bottom Line: The Hello Kitty and Friends Bokksu is a great option for Hello Kitty fans! Even though I personally didn’t stay subscribed, I can see how it would be a great gift for people who desire the exclusive keepsake items. Plus, the snacks are truly straight from Japan and made by local small businesses there, so you’re paying for high quality items all around.