Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) by Studio Ghibli is the saddest movie I have ever seen and at the same time the best anti-war movie I have ever seen. It tells the story of two orphan children, Seita and her sister Setsuko, after the bombing of Kobe at the end of World War II. They are alone trying to survive on their own and one of the few things they have to eat is a candy box that Setsuko keeps as if it was a treasure. As the story unfolds the candy box becomes one of the most important symbols in the movie.
Setsuko’s candy are Sakuma Drops (サクマ式ドロップス) which have been produced in Japan since 1908 by Sakuma Seika. Nowadays it’s not easy to find them; I love them and I buy them every chance I get.
This is the Grave of the Fireflies movie special edition box which has a picture of Setsuko trying to find if there is any candy left:
There’s many different flavors.
One of the scenes of Grave of the Fireflies where you can see the Sakuma Drops box
Three years ago NHK aired a TV series and a movie based on the anime movie by Ghibli. It seems that the plot is quite different and people didn’t like it that much but you can also spot a Sakuma Drops box:
The design of the Sakuma Drops box has changed 13 times over more than 100 years of history. This is the timeline where you can appreciate its evolution until today:
