The candy was originally made by , based in
Ikebukuro,
Tokyo in 1908. The company ceased production during
World War 2 due to the sugar shortages. After the war, employees of the original company founded two new companies that continued making the candy, one using the original name and a second also called Sakuma Candy (サクマ製菓), but written in
katakana instead of
kanji. The second company holds the trademark to the name "Sakuma Drops" and sells their candy as such in green cans, while the original used the name "Sakuma's Drops" () and red tins. On 9 November 2022 the original company announced they would cease operations on 20 January 2023. ==In popular culture==