ZenPop Box: A Taste of Japan Delivered to Your Door

Japanese snack box from ZenPop
Sweet, savory, and...stationery?! A new contender in Japanese snacks delivery offers up an interesting array of options for Japan-lovers.

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

If you’re a fan of all things Japan, you’re likely a Japanese snack addict like us. Japanese snacks seem to have it all – from the not-overly-sweet to the downright savory on up to improbably delicious inventions such as ramen bits. However, if you don’t live in Japan or in a major city with a significant Japanese diaspora, finding Japanese snacks can be a challenge. A new service based out in Osaka – ZenPop – seeks to eliminate that obstacle – and does so with a unique twist.

See the end of the article for a special coupon code for a discount off of your first ZenPop box, courtesy of ZenPop and Unseen Japan!

(Note: Unseen Japan received a free ZenPop box for review purposes. Unseen Japan has received no compensation for this review and is not commercially affiliated with ZenPop.)

ZenPop: Beyond Snacks

We’ve reviewed other options for Japanese snack delivery before. Most services take the same approach: a pretty, stylized box filled with a sampler of snacks, plus an informative guide to the box’s contents.

ZenPop goes a step further. Whereas most vendors offer straight-up snack boxes, ZenPop provides boxes that mix and match three of Japan’s most popular exports: snacks, ramen, and stationary! Every month, you can choose a straight snack box, a straight ramen box, a sweets/ramen mix, or a stationery set.

This flexibility makes ZenPop more than just a “snack box”. You can sample a ZenPop to widen your knowledge of the wide world of packaged ramen. Or you can simply get cute stationery and help the world preserve the dying art of handwriting.

A Ramen/Sweets ZenPop Box Tour

While I like stationery, my heart (er…stomach) will always, when given the chance, choose food. So I asked the good folks at ZenPop to send me a mixed ramen/sweets box so I could experience it firsthand for myself.

ZenPop - top of box

The first thing that impressed me was with how quickly the box arrived. My wife and I are still stuck in Seattle, WA due to COVID-19 restrictions. (We haven’t been able to get back to Japan since around this time last year.) When ZenPop sent the box, they warned it could take over four weeks to delivery given mail issues during the pandemic. But the box showed up at my doorstep about a week later. (As you can see, the edges took a small beating. This didn’t seem to affect the contents, however.)

ZenPop box opened

The box is pretty fun to open. Sadly, I admittedly didn’t dig too deeply into the guide before the consumed box box tossed during weekend cleaning. However, the presentation and attached information make the box a perfect gift option. If you’ve ever wanted to introduce friends to the wonder of Japanese snacking or the wide world of packaged ramen, ZenPop would be a great way to do it.

ZenPop box - contents

The mixed ramen/sweets box proved to be a great sample set. Stacked with ramen on the bottom, the rest of the box was an interesting mix of sweet and savory Japanese snacks. But, since these were Japanese snacks, nothing was overly, disgustingly sweet (a perennial problem with American snacks, IMO).

In the interest of brevity, I won’t review every single item here. But let me highlight a few of my favorites.

Rice Flour Noodles with Chicken and Yuzu Pepper Base

An interesting take on instant noodles! This product from Acecook contains noodles that contain a portion of mochikona, or rice flour. This one was a hit among the ramen-loving set in our house. Sadly, I wasn’t able to find it at our local Japanese supermarket. Maybe once we get back I’ll stock up. Hm, I may need another suitcase…

Myojo Hyobanya Yaki-Udon – Dashi and Soy Sauce Flavor

ZenPop box: Yaki-udon

You’ve heard of yakisoba, I’m sure. But…yaki-udon?! Well, Yaki (焼き) simply means “fried/baked” in Japanese – meaning that any noodle, not just soba, can be yaki-fied. (We’ve substituted yaki-udon for yaki-soba on more than one occasion.)

This is the first time I’ve seen yaki-udon as a packaged product. My wife immediately glommed onto it, but generously let me have a few bites. It was quite good! I could see eating this as a quick meal with some fried cabbage and snap peas.

Pretz Smoky Cheese Flavor

ZenPop box: Pretz Smoky Cheese Flavor

Pretz isn’t my favorite Japanese snack; that honor goes to Cheeza, the unrivaled God of Japanese cheesy snacks. But these smoked cheesy versions of Pretz were quite tasty. The cheese taste was quite pungent and, combined with the smoky flavor, made for a real kick in the taste buds. I can totally see serving these up as o-tsumami to have with your favorite Japanese alcoholic drink.

Meito Chocolate Tai Wafer

ZenPop Box: Chocolate Tai Wafer

There are few snacks I love more than taiyaki, a pastry filled with anko (sweet bean) or cream and shaped in the form of a tai (鯛), or sea bream. You can get taiyaki fresh from any number of small street shops around Japan.

Is this tai chocolate wafer a substitute for fresh, steaming hot taiyaki from a street vendor? No. No, it is not. But it was damn tasty and one of the funnest surprises in my ZenPop box.

Get $3 Off Your First Box

With the holidays around the corner, consider giving someone in your life a taste of Japan. And now, thanks to ZenPop, you can get a discount off of your first order! Just place an order with Zenpop and use the code UNSEENJAPAN at checkout to get $3 off of your first box.

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

Japan in Translation

Subscribe to our free newsletter for a weekly digest of our best work across platforms (Web, Twitter, YouTube). Your support helps us spread the word about the Japan you don’t learn about in anime.

Want a preview? Read our archives

You’ll get one to two emails from us weekly. For more details, see our privacy policy