The rise of this appliance in Japan is unstoppable

The rice cooker: if it didn’t take up oceans of precious countertop space or masses of equally precious cupboard space, I’d want one immediately. Luckily, there are also other ways to prepare fluffy rice, which we were more than happy to share too. But that rice cooker remains a dream… And did you know that in Japan, the rise of one particular little appliance is huge?

Because in Japan, (not entirely surprisingly) a lot of rice is eaten, and although short-grain (sushi) rice requires a slightly different method, it too is generally cooked in electric rice cookers there. And what is currently selling more than ever? The single-serving rice cooker.

Solo rice

We find the explanation behind this a sad one. Because of the coronavirus crisis and the widespread closure of the hospitality industry, people are naturally eating out less or not at all and have to cook at home more, but it also shows that isolation and loneliness are a real effect of the virus. Cooking and eating together or for each other are no longer possible in many cases, and so since mid-December 2020, fifty thousand more Japanese people than before have been cooking a portion of rice on their own. Because that is how many single-serving rice cookers the company Thanko has sold since then. A pile higher than Mount Fuji if they were stacked up, according to the company.

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Of course, not all of those people will actually be lonely. There are also people who love living alone! And who simply enjoy a solo portion of rice, using it to make all kinds of clever single-serving meals with, for example, pork tenderloin or fishcakes. Just as delicious, whether you eat it on your own or with company.

We immediately also wondered which single-person household appliance would be very popular in the Netherlands. Because in Japan, almost 35% of the population lives alone; in the Netherlands, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), it’s almost 40%! Three million households in our country consist of one person. What is a typically Dutch need in kitchen appliances that manufacturers are responding to particularly well? We’d love to know, so if you’d like to tell us below this article on Facebook, that would be very welcome!

Also read:

• Why you should never throw away your rice water again
• Which rice goes with which dish?
• This chip shop matches singles based on their favorite snack

Source: Vice.com, image in article: Thanko via Amazon