Whether you live in Tokyo or not, this bargain box of Tokyo sweets is well worth fighting for!

Sad to say, our Nara-based Japanese-language reporter and Starbucks expert K. Masami almost never makes it out to Tokyo anymore. Since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she hasn’t had to go on a business trip to the Kanto area or even venture out for events because everything is done online these days. She’s had no reason to leave her hometown at all.

She does, however, still get cravings for the flavors of old Edo (and sometimes modern Tokyo), and for such occasions, Masami can turn to the contents of the Tokyo Miyage Fuku Fuku Set (“Lucky Lucky Set of Tokyo Food Gifts”), which is a kind of lucky bag sold at the end of every year. With her stock from last year’s box depleted, she made sure to order another this year, and as usual, it didn’t disappoint!

This year’s box cost 9,800 yen (US$63.80) and contained 11 different kinds of Tokyo snacks:

・ Tokyo Banana Miitsuketa (8-pack)

Possibly Tokyo’s most iconic souvenir, this is a pack of banana-shaped, cream-filled cakes.

・ Caramelwich (11-pack)

Caramel sandwich cookies.

・ Tokyo Tamago Goma Tamago (Pack of 8)

Egg-shaped castella cakes whose “yolk” is black sesame and red bean paste.

・ Tokyo Hiyoko Trois Empilés Chocolat Hiyoko (Pack of 6)

A chick-shaped, flour-based snack cake filled with red bean paste and chocolate.

・ Hanagataya x Morozoff Almond Scotch Cookies (Pack of 7)

A new Tokyo souvenir just released this year from the JR East Cross Station Retail Company, these are crunchy, flower-shaped butter cookies with an almond scotch center. They’re made in collaboration with Kobe-based confectionary company Morozoff.

・ Hanagataya x Takoman Funwarina Bouchee Shonan Gold (Pack of 5)

A soft cookie sandwich filled with cream and a jam made from Shonan Gold, a mandarin and golden orange hybrid citrus. It also has been infused with the Shonan Gold syrup, so it’s extra citrusy! It’s also a new product from JR East Cross Station Retail Company, and is in collaboration with Shizuoka-based confectionary company Takoman.

・ Katanukiya Panda Baum (Plain) and Kodomo Panda Baum (Strawberry)

Baumkuchen cakes printed with an image of a panda and a baby panda.

・ Tokyo Campanella Chocolat (Pack of 5)

A triple-layered chocolate sandwich cookie made up of chocolate langue-de-chat cookies and chocolate filling.

・ Tokiwado Kaminari-okoshi Honpo Joisobe

Asakusa’s famous and historic puffed rice snacks.

・ Novelty Hanagataya Geishun Rice (150 grams)

A bag of “New Year’s Greetings” rice.

Many of the items might be familiar to Tokyoites or frequent omiyage purchasers, and if you saw Masami’s box from last year, you’ll know many of these are staple items included in the box every year. But this year there were a couple of unique things Masami hadn’t seen before, like the Shonan Gold Bouchee and the Almond Scotch Cookies.

The tin the cookies came in had a familiar air, and the cookies themselves had a nostalgic flavor as well. Masami had to wonder when it was that the Tokyo omiyage scene added a flavor like this. (As it turns out, it was in July 2023.)

The most unexpected inclusion in the box was probably the Geishun Rice. Last year, the novelty item was a pour-over coffee set to accompany the sweets, but Masami didn’t know why they chose rice this year. Still, she was never one to turn down rice, so the inclusion was appreciated nonetheless.

The last thing included in the box was the shopping bags for each of the snacks, so if you decide to not keep them all for yourself, you can gift each one to someone else inside the shopping bag, as is tradition, as if you went to Tokyo yourself.

Now, though, this lucky box is sold exclusively online so you still have to put up a bit of a fight to get one, since it sells out very quickly every year, but it does generally have multiple sale dates. This year, it originally started selling at midnight on December 10, but though Masami tried her hardest to stay up, she couldn’t make it, and by the morning it was totally sold out.

Luckily they had a restock on December 20, again at midnight, and that time she managed to snag a box for herself. They also sold them once more on January 1 (also at midnight), so there were quite a few chances. If you want to get one for yourself next year, definitely make sure to stay up late enough to place your order, lest you miss out entirely! You can buy it online at Rakuten, Yahoo Shopping, NewDays, and JRE Mall’s online shops.

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