Sakuma Drops: All about the Japanese Fruit Candy
A work of Studio Ghibli, Spirited Away won Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003.
And in Japan, it is the movie that recorded the highest receipts in the history of Japanese films.
As you know, Studio Ghibli has another hit movie, Grave of the Fireflies,
in which Setsuko (節子), a younger sister of the main character Seita (清太), loves a tin can of hard candies.
The candy named Sakuma Drops exists in reality and has been a favorite among us Japanese for over a century.
Sakuma Drops
The Japanese treat seen in Grave of the Fireflies, Sakuma Drops, now comes in 2 varieties.
One is Sakuma’s Drops (サクマ式ドロップス) manufactured by Sakuma Seika (佐久間製菓) Confectionery, known as the original,
and the other is Sakuma Drops (サクマドロップス) from Sakuma Seika (サクマ製菓).
History
Sakuma Seika was initially one company. It introduced the original Sakuma Drops in 1908.
But during the Second World War, unfortunately, it went out of business due to the short supply of sugar.
After the war, two persons relating to the original company founded two new Sakuma Seika, 佐久間製菓 and サクマ製菓, respectively.
How to Open the Tin Can
I used to buy the original Sakuma Drops when I was a boy and enjoyed the fruit candies.
I liked shaking the tin can to guess how many drops remained.
The maker seals the hole of the can firmly with a removable lid.
So when opening it, you need to use something hard, like a coin or scissors, to lift the lid.
Flavors
The tin can (volume: 75 g) contains 26 pieces of hard candy comprising eight flavors.
As shown in the photo below, the eight flavors are
- Grape (Purple)
- Apple (Green)
- Lemon (Translucent)
- Strawberry (Red)
- Pineapple (Yellow)
- Hakka or Japanese Peppermint (Milky White)
- Chocolate (Brown)
- Orange (Orange)
With a beautiful bright hue, each flavor tastes pretty good.
Besides, these treats don’t melt even in the summer heat.
Ingredients/Nutrition Facts
Lastly, here are the Sakuma Drops’ specific ingredients and nutrition facts.
| Sugar, Starch syrup, Fruit juice (apple, orange, grape, strawberry, lemon, pineapple), Cacao mass, Acidifier, Flavoring, Colors (anthocyanin, cape jasmine, monascus, paprika pigment) |
Nutritional Values
| Calories | 391 kcal |
| Protein | 0.1 g |
| Fat | 0.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 97.0 g |
| Sodium | 2.0 mg |
(Reference Page: Wikipedia サクマ式ドロップス )
2 Responses
[…] As I wrote in my past article,Sakuma’s Drops is that kind of Japanese hard candy. […]
[…] of Japanese hard candies,as I wrote in my past articles,some items such as Sakuma’s Drops and Kanro Ame fall under long-seller Japanese products with […]