Sending small edible gifts to Japan (preferably from Japan)?

February 18, 2023 2:54 PM

A close friend of mine lives in Tokyo and she is going through a really, really rough time. I want to be able to send her some kind of small gifts (preferably edible - something like chocolate or coffee, etc.) regularly but am wondering what's the best way to do it (other than me personally mailing to her, which has been too time consuming on my part). Any websites you know that ships to Japan or preferably, any Japanese websites that takes a US credit card? (I can read some Japanese). Is subscription box a thing in Japan?
posted by Sparkling Natural Mineral Water to Shopping (8 answers total)

Mascot Mix!
posted by rd45 at 2:57 PM on February 18, 2023

I keep hearing good things about Bokksu though I haven't personally tried it. It looks pretty good and they definitely ship to Japan.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:05 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Maple candy - links to a US company ships international.
posted by aniola at 5:41 PM on February 18, 2023

I have done this with Etsy (not edible items yet, but Etsy has edible items) - just set the search location to "Japan", and you'll get vendors who ship from Japan.

Amazon.jp, plus liberal use of Google Translate, can also work.
posted by amtho at 5:54 PM on February 18, 2023

You can use amazon.jp and set the display language to English.
posted by Umami Dearest at 6:42 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Our go-to for ordering Japan-to-Japan gifts but on US credit card was Rakuten.co.jp (I would link the English page but I can't see the language setting unless I log in...).
We used Rakuten rather than Amazon because there was more of a selection of interesting/quality vendors and reviews. Caveat: haven't used either in a year or so...
Here's their gifts portal with recommendations and so on but you could of course just use your own searches from the basic marketplace page.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 1:14 AM on February 19, 2023

Best answer: I also came to suggest Etsy sellers in Japan; here's a list. Loads don't have gift options so I message the seller to ask if they can include a post-it note that says "Love, DarlingBri" and nobody has not accommodated me.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:38 PM on February 19, 2023

Best answer: I've been to Tokyo more than a few times (but am not native). If you're willing to pay a premium, I'd go to any of the top luxury hotels all who have a bakery/patisserie attached with very giftable options. And should gladly orchestrate delivery via email and accept US cards vs navigating a Japanese e-commerce experience.

Peninsula Boutique, Four Seasons pastry takeaway, Ritz Carlton Tokyo La Boutique.
posted by artificialard at 7:48 PM on February 19, 2023