2022年11月16日 VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：日本公司將在 114 年后終結(jié)心愛的糖果

 

Tokyo-based Sakumaseika Co recently announced it would be forced to end operations because of rising production costs, a labor shortage and drops in sales.
總部位于東京的 Sakumaseika Co 最近宣布，由于生產(chǎn)成本上升、勞動(dòng)力短缺和銷售額下降，該公司將被迫停止運(yùn)營(yíng)。
 
The company's main and most popular product is called "Sakuma's Drops." The candy – which comes in eight different fruit flavors – has been beloved in Japan for generations. The drops are famous in Japan and even appeared in a hit anime film.
該公司的主要和最受歡迎的產(chǎn)品稱為“Sakuma's Drops”。這種糖果有八種不同的水果口味，在日本幾代人都深受喜愛。這種水滴在日本很有名，甚至出現(xiàn)在一部熱門動(dòng)漫電影中。
 
The discontinuation of the beloved candy caused some people to begin to mourn the treat.
心愛的糖果的停產(chǎn)讓一些人開始哀悼這種款待。
 
"We always had a can at home when I was in grade school," said 53-year-old sweets-shop owner Naoe Watanabe. He remembered how he used to use a 10-yen coin to lift open the container. Sakuma's Drops have been sold in candy shops for 114 years.
53 歲的糖果店老板 Naoe Watanabe 說：“我上小學(xué)的時(shí)候家里總是有一個(gè)罐頭。” 他記得他以前是如何用 10 日元硬幣來掀開容器的。Sakuma's Drops 在糖果店銷售已有 114 年。
 
"It feels like a sign of the times," Watanabe said. "There are so many choices now, compared to when I was a kid."
“這感覺像是時(shí)代的標(biāo)志，”渡邊說。“與我小時(shí)候相比，現(xiàn)在有很多選擇。”
 
Sakumaseika said it had not raised the price of the product in years. Many Japanese companies have been unwilling to raise prices even though their material and production costs have been increasing. Many businesses fear that passing along those costs would turn off many buyers.
Sakumaseika 表示多年來一直沒有提高產(chǎn)品的價(jià)格。許多日本公司一直不愿意提高價(jià)格，盡管他們的材料和生產(chǎn)成本一直在增加。許多企業(yè)擔(dān)心轉(zhuǎn)嫁這些成本會(huì)使許多買家望而卻步。
 
The future of Sakumaseika's 100 or so employees remained uncertain, a company representative said. Company officials did not provide comment to reporters from Reuters news agency.
一位公司代表表示，Sakumaseika 約 100 名員工的未來仍不明朗。公司官員沒有向路透社記者發(fā)表評(píng)論。
 
Sakumaseika was established in 1908 by candy maker Sojiro Sakuma. The company produced the candy through air attacks during World War II.
Sakumaseika 由糖果制造商 Sojiro Sakuma 于 1908 年創(chuàng)立。該公司在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間通過空襲生產(chǎn)了這種糖果。
 
The drops appeared in the 1988 anime film Grave of the Fireflies, which is set during the war. In it, an orphaned girl, struggling to survive with her brother, carries with her the red can of Sakuma's Drops. It is one of the children's few belongings after their home is destroyed.
水滴出現(xiàn)在 1988 年的動(dòng)漫電影《螢火蟲之墓》中，該電影以戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)為背景。在其中，一個(gè)孤兒女孩與她的兄弟一起為生存而奮斗，她隨身攜帶著紅色的 Sakuma's Drops 罐頭。這是孩子們?cè)诩覉@被毀后為數(shù)不多的財(cái)產(chǎn)之一。
 
Hiroshi Matsuzawa is a store owner on a popular Tokyo shopping street. He told Reuters that Sakuma's Drops were mostly popular with older people. He noted that a lot of children are now uninterested in the candy because they have so many other products to choose from.
Hiroshi Matsuzawa 是東京一條熱門購(gòu)物街的店主。他告訴路透社，Sakuma's Drops 最受老年人歡迎。他指出，現(xiàn)在很多孩子對(duì)糖果不感興趣，因?yàn)樗麄冇刑嗥渌a(chǎn)品可供選擇。
 
Teruyo Ishiguro runs a small food store that traditionally is visited by many children walking home from school. She said she had stopped carrying Sakuma's Drops last year because most buyers were in their 50s or older.
Teruyo Ishiguro 經(jīng)營(yíng)著一家小食品店，傳統(tǒng)上許多放學(xué)回家的孩子都會(huì)光顧這家店。她說她去年已經(jīng)停止攜帶 Sakuma's Drops，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)買家都在 50 多歲或以上。
 
"It's very sad to see something disappear that's been around for so long," said Ishiguro, who had been selling the candy for more than 60 years.
“看到存在了這么久的東西消失了，真是令人難過，”銷售這種糖果 60 多年的石黑一雄說。