Ryuji Taste-Tests Nine Amazon Furusato Nozei Gifts to See Whether the Top-Ranked Items Live Up to Their Reputation

Ryuji began by explaining the system: if you redirect part of your income tax and resident tax as a donation to a municipality, you receive a thank-you gift. They said they hadn't used it much before, but did this year.

The staff's experience varied. One person signed up at the last minute and chose hamburger steaks, another had once ordered toilet paper, and another had never done it at all. The staff member who had never tried it said, "I don't know how to do it." Ryuji pointed out that Amazon's page has a beginner's guide, then immediately quipped, "That sounds like an ad, huh." They said you can also check your donation limit using that guide.

The video was expected to go up in late December. Ryuji noted that donations can be made until December 31, so there's still time, and asked anyone who missed the deadline to use the video as a reference for next year.

First up was Asahi Super Dry. It's a gift from Moriya in Ibaraki Prefecture, and a ¥15,000 donation gets you 24 cans. The staff didn't know beer was available as a gift.

According to Ryuji, only items manufactured or processed in the area can be offered as gifts. They said that when they develop products of their own, they're often asked, "Would you like to make this a gift item?" On price, Ryuji acknowledged that since it's a donation, it costs more than buying the item outright. That said, they explained the gift's value is roughly one-third of the donation amount. The tasting kicked off with a toast using this beer, and the dishes that followed were chosen to go well with beer.

The second item was a Kyushu Kuroge Wagyu hamburger steak from Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, where a staff member's mother's family is from. A ¥12,000 donation gets you 12 patties, and it was introduced as the No. 1 item in Amazon's overall rankings.

These are raw patties that can be cooked straight from frozen, without oil. You cook them over low heat, always with the lid on, for 8 minutes per side, 16 minutes in total. Since they're a blend of Kyushu pork and beef, Ryuji said they're probably easier to eat than 100% beef.

When the cooked patty was cut open, juices came pouring out. Ryuji's verdict: "Guess the rankings aren't just for show." However, because they're quite fatty, Ryuji recommended eating them with a pinch of salt and some wasabi. They also said that if you put one on rice and break it open, the rice would soak up the juices and fat deliciously. One staff member said it was tasty on its own since it contains spices.

The rating was A+. Ryuji cited the solid meat texture—"it's not a hamburger steak that's all filler"—and the value of a 12-pack that lasts a long time.

The third item was "Chicken Wings with Scallion-Salt Dressing" from a chicken sashimi specialty shop in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, an Amazon-exclusive gift. The package says it's chicken tataki for raw consumption. At one point a staff member was surprised, asking whether raw chicken that hadn't been heat-treated was really okay. Ryuji explained that Kagoshima has a culture of eating chicken raw, and that it's said to be safe because it's processed in very clean facilities. The product is flavorful wing meat seasoned with an original salt, and the donation is ¥7,500 for 3 packs.

Eating it raw, Ryuji was surprised at how good chicken wings could be as sashimi. They said the fat was crunchy and released slowly as you chewed. A staff member also noted that the scallions didn't have the unpleasant quality frozen scallions often do. Ryuji emphasized that deboning the wings to leave just the meat takes a lot of work, making this something you can't buy at a supermarket.

Since some family members might not like raw meat, they also tried lightly stir-frying it in a pan. Cooking it changed the texture completely. Ryuji's preference was split about evenly between raw and cooked, while most of the staff said they liked it better cooked.

The rating was SS. Ryuji said, "I wasn't expecting anything at all," and looked back on how this item "stole the show" early on. In the wrap-up, they said this was the one item they had "dug up" themselves from among the top-ranked items.

The fourth item was seared bonito tataki from Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, with 2.5 kg delivered for a ¥10,000 donation. The staff were surprised by the sheer quantity. The low price is because it's an "imperfect" product—pieces that are off-spec or have blemishes. Even so, the fillets were impressive, and Ryuji said that as the person eating it, you can't tell the difference.

Thawing follows the package instructions: about 10–15 minutes under running water. Ryuji, who prefers thick slices, cut it thick. The staff associated bonito tataki with ginger, but Ryuji recommended a different way as "the best." Top it with scallions, add thin slices of raw garlic, and sprinkle with salt. Raw garlic is strong, so 2–3 cloves' worth is plenty. They said you can add lemon or sudachi if you like, but this is the bare minimum to start with.

One staff member said it was "better than a mediocre restaurant." Ryuji added, "This is frozen, you know." For a staff member who dislikes the dark blood-line meat and usually leaves it, Ryuji trimmed off the brownish blood-line portion. That staff member was then able to eat it. Ryuji recommended that anyone who dislikes the smell of the blood line remove that part.

It's frozen and keeps for about half a year (180 days). The rating was S, with Ryuji saying it's the kind of thing they'd "eat all weekend." They said that they usually tend to be stricter with sponsored content and wondered whether they were overpraising, but insisted it was still delicious. It ranked 4th in the overall furusato nozei rankings.

The fifth item was additive-free salted mackerel, with 3 kg delivered for an ¥11,000 donation. It was so much that it didn't fit in the fridge and had to be divided up. This is also an "imperfect" product. Here, however, "off-spec" doesn't mean poor quality. The explanation was that the fish are too large to fit in the trays, which drives up the unit price, so they fall outside the standard. Ryuji said that mackerel is actually fattier and tastier the bigger it is.

The fillets were large, and while Ryuji said they'd probably be best grilled, this time they cooked them in a frying pan with a little oil over medium heat. The skin came out crispy. The first piece Ryuji ate was from the tail end, which doesn't have much fat. Even so, they said it was full of flavor from the first bite. Because it's additive-free, it isn't seasoned with amino acids or other flavor enhancers. Ryuji said it would be better with lemon. Other ideas that came up included using the cooked fish in takikomi gohan (seasoned rice) or making karaage by simply dusting it with potato starch and no seasoning.

Ryuji also noted that frozen mackerel has generally been tasty in their past videos, and that salted mackerel doesn't deteriorate easily. One staff member said they always buy fillets at the supermarket, which adds up each time, so being able to keep frozen ones on hand is a big help.

The rating was S. Ryuji was amazed, asking what was going on with furusato nozei seafood, between the bonito and the mackerel. They also remarked, in essence, that since furusato nozei has been around for a long time, people have a good eye, and the rankings really know which items are good.

The sixth item was a set of three donburi from Tsukumi, Oita Prefecture. It contains three types: a ryukyu bowl with yellowtail, a hyuga bowl with marinated tuna, and a negitoro bowl with minced tuna. The donation is ¥15,000. All three were introduced as local specialties.

Ryuji's first words after tasting the ryukyu bowl were "It's just okay." It didn't have any fishy smell, but they wanted more aromatics. The product image showed what looked like shiso leaves, and Ryuji said it might be tastier with those. For the hyuga bowl, they guessed that the sauce was sweet because soy sauce in Kyushu is generally sweet. They framed it not as bad, but as a seasoning that might not suit them. They also sensed a slight bitterness in the negitoro.

The rating was C. Ryuji's reason was that it fell short on value compared with the items so far. They suggested it might be better enjoyed as a seafood set to snack on with drinks rather than as a donburi set. They stressed that this was purely their own assessment, adding, "I might be wrong."

The staff's impressions were similar: not bad, but not amazingly delicious either, and the sweetness was strong and unfamiliar. On the other hand, someone suggested people from that region would probably be satisfied. Everyone agreed that the quality itself wasn't poor.

The seventh item was soy-marinated ikura (salmon roe) from Shiranuka, Hokkaido, 200 g × 2 for a total of 400 g. The donation is ¥16,000, making it one of the more expensive items this time. The package said "Product of USA," and Ryuji guessed it was American salmon roe processed in Hokkaido.

Ryuji prefaced their comments by saying they aren't a huge fan of ikura, but said they liked this flavor. It wasn't too strong, and the dashi flavor came through well. A staff member said cheap ikura tends to leave something lingering in your mouth, but this had no unpleasant aftertaste—maybe the processing is good. A staff member who dislikes ikura also tried it after seeing everyone's reactions, and admitted it had no fishy smell at all.

At the time of filming, it was eligible for next-day delivery, so they mentioned that if viewers made it in time after the video went up, they could probably have it for New Year's. The rating was A+. Ryuji said that because they don't eat high-end ingredients much, they weren't sure how to rate something like ikura. Still, they said something that's delicious just placed on rice is valuable. It was the No. 2 item in the rankings.

The eighth item was 1 kg of extra-large peeled shrimp from Masuyone in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, for an ¥8,500 donation. The shells and veins are already removed, so the prep work is done. Ryuji said they trust this shop's shrimp quite a bit.

They turned out to be black tiger shrimp. According to Ryuji, whiteleg shrimp is the mainstream now, and a large share of the frozen shrimp people usually eat is whiteleg. They explained that black tigers have long been considered "a slightly better shrimp," a premium product used for things like fried shrimp. To thaw them, you soak them in water with a little salt.

The product page recommended shrimp mayo, chili shrimp, fresh spring rolls, ajillo, and so on. Ryuji laughed, "Those are all a pain," and made the simplest option: garlic shrimp. They added that boiling them and eating them with mayonnaise would also be tasty, but there'd be no point doing that on a cooking researcher's channel. The method is simply to sauté about 150 g of shrimp with 15 g of butter and garlic and season with salt. Add lemon and sprinkle with parsley, and it becomes a feast. Ryuji said that if the shrimp are good quality, this alone should be delicious, and recommended salting a bit more heavily to pair well with drinks.

When they ate it, the shrimp stayed plump and snappy even after cooking. A staff member said the shrimp itself had a natural sweetness. A staff member who usually avoids shrimp said, "I can eat this," adding it was completely different from a seafood mix. Ryuji gave it top-tier praise, saying they'd like to replace all the frozen shrimp at home with this. They also said that all their past shrimp recipes would taste great if people made them with this.

The last item was a gift from Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture: 800 g of Kyushu Kuroge Wagyu trimmings. It comes portioned as 400 g × 2, and the donation is ¥9,000. It was introduced as Amazon's No. 1 bestseller in frozen beef and a popular item ranked 7th in the overall furusato nozei rankings.

Ryuji ate it as an easy home-style sukiyaki. They made the warishita sauce with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. It's tastier with umami seasoning, they said, but they weren't adding any today. Ryuji explained that adding white scallions, napa cabbage, and mushrooms would make it sukiyaki, but just dipping the meat in the warishita and simmering it is fine too, and said they think sukiyaki only needs meat. The beef had a decent amount of marbling and didn't come across as frozen.

Dipping it in egg, Ryuji said, "Of course it's delicious." The staff said that for eating at home, loose trimmings are plenty, and someone said they'd like to have it as sukiyaki for New Year's. Adding grilled tofu and shirataki noodles was also suggested.

The rating was A+. However, what Ryuji recommended most wasn't sukiyaki but gyudon (beef bowl). They said you could make a "super-premium gyudon" on a whole different level from the chain restaurants. They also added that for sukiyaki, adding kombu makes it even better. Another reason for the rating was that a ¥9,000 donation gets you 800 g—enough to throw a party.

After the tasting, Ryuji said again, "I praised too much." Since this time they had mainly gathered top items from Amazon's gift rankings, the conclusion was that the people donating know their stuff and that following the rankings is mostly a safe bet. They did make a point of noting, however, that the chicken wings with scallion-salt dressing were the one item they had dug up themselves.

Ryuji had intended to rank the items in the wrap-up, but since everything except one got an S or A+, they said, honestly, everything was good. As standouts, Ryuji named the seared bonito and the shrimp. Of the shrimp, they said it was in a different league from ordinary frozen peeled shrimp, and that getting 1 kg of it was great. As for the chicken wings with scallion-salt dressing, they acknowledged some people may be hesitant about eating it as sashimi, and introduced it as an Amazon-exclusive gift.

In closing, Ryuji said that receiving everyday food as thank-you gifts for donations helps support daily life. Some items even arrive with next-day delivery, and they said there are "nothing but benefits" to doing it. Donations can be made until December 31, leaving about 10 days after the video's release. Ryuji ended the video by asking those watching after the New Year to use it as a reference for the following year's furusato nozei.