What makes wasanbon toh so different from ordinary sugar is its ingredients. Although wasanbon toh uses sugar cane as an ingredient just like that which everybody uses at home, the type of sugar cane used for wasanbon toh is quite different.

The sugar cane used for wasanbon toh is a kind called "Chikutoh". Unlike the sugar cane produced in Taiwan, Cuba or Okinawa, it is short and thin. Even when it is fully grown, it is less than two meters long including the top part and is only as thick as an adult's index finger.

Since it is short and thin, it is obviously disadvantageous in terms of productivity.

The way of cultivating "Chikutoh" is also quite different from that in tropical areas. When the ripe "Chikutoh" is harvested in December, it must be completely uprooted. Sugar cane has small buds at the joints of its stalks. Some of the harvested sugar cane joints are put aside and cut at the proper length for replanting in April. The annual schedule for sugar cane farmers is as follows:

• Early April: digging out the seedlings
• Early April: planting the seedlings
• weeding and watering(several times)
• Mid November:preparing the seedlings for the coming year
• Late November to December: harvest
• December: sugar factories receive the sugar cane