I’ve loved getting subscription boxes throughout 2020, I think it’s brought me an edge of excitement to an otherwise dull and stressful year. As I said in my Anime Limited unboxing, there’s something about a mystery package that’s really appealing to me – I think really just boils down to the element of surprise and chance. I bought a fair number of boxes in 2020, and whilst I have loved pretty much every one, there does come a time where I think, “But do I really need this item?” where they’re purely decorative. I obviously collect a lot of anime merchandise, but I think there’s something inherently different about buying a figure or plushie of a character you love, rather than one you just happen to get in a subscription box (looking at you, Donald Duck plushie).
From a young age, I’ve always really loved stationery. Even now I have drawers full of stationery and shelves full of unused notebooks. I promised myself in 2021 I’d get back into creating a bullet journal, something I have done in previous years and really enjoyed, and I also want to find penpals to write to. This all led me to plumping for a stationery themed subscription box. I knew they’d be full of practical items that I’d definitely use.
This is a very long winded way of saying my January subscription box was Inku Crate – a subscription box themed around Japanese stationery.
The box itself was really cute, I loved that it looked like a book and opened from the side like a book would, I thought that was a really nice touch. I know there are a good amount of items in the box, but due to the size of one of them they had to use a bigger box and it seems a little sparse as a result – to reiterate, I know it’s not, but it’s an initial feeling of “oh, kinda empty” as a visual thing when you first open.
Onto the items! I got a couple of pens – first up is a sweets u-marker. It’s double-ended, and each end smells like a different sweet – mine is melon cream soda and it smells so good. The pen nibs are highlighters, which I use a lot of for journalling! The second pen is a fude colour marker of which I got a pink one (fitting!). I need to learn to do fancy writing, so hopefully this pen will give me an incentive!
Next up I got these items which will be perfect for journalling. At first I could not figure out what the blue item was, but it’s glue in the shape of a detergent bottle. How cute is that?! When I was journalling at the weekend I said to myself that next time I went to a supermarket I needed to buy glue, so this has come at the right time! I love putting stickers on my journal pages and on penpal letters, so these stickers will be perfect!
Finally, I have the larger items. First up, a Hello Kitty notebook. Hello Kitty is dressed like a cow, because it’s the Year of the Ox! At first I was totally baffled by it, but when I realised, it all made sense! I also got a daruma doll sticky note set, which are always useful for putting little reminders on! There’s also the cutest little rubber (eraser!) set, which is fairy tale themed – mine are Alice in Wonderland, which is just perfect for me as I’m not really a traditional fairy tale kind of person. Last up is a clear file decorated with Japanese New Year iconography. I use these clear files all the time to store documents!
I’m so happy with my Inku Crate! I know I’ll definitely use these items all the time, so it feels like a really smart purchase over some of the items I was getting in other subscription boxes. I’ll still get the occasional box with normal kawaii goods in it, but I’m saving myself for when there’s a theme I really like the look of or content that I really like – most companies give a preview of what characters or properties will feature in the box. I think I’ll get the next Inku Crate to see how that goes, and I may keep it going as a rolling thing!
What was your favourite item in this box? I think mine is the detergent shaped glue, it’s so cute!
Culture Shack 
cute.