Japanese kitchen appliances

Hello! I'm getting ready to buy kitchen appliances in Japan and I have some questions about regular prices and also worthiness of products.

I'm looking for the prices of:

Rice Cookers
Electric Kettles (pot style & standing style)
Oven-microwaves
Water purifiers (pitchers & sink attachments)

I've been to my local Bic Camera and Yodabashi Camera to take a look at these things, but I'm not sure what a decent price for any of them is. I'm looking for something that will hopefully last me for a while.

-- What's ''too cheap'' (as in, ''something this cheap is probably low quality'')?

-- What's paying too much (as in, yes, this is good quality, but things under this price work just as well)?

-- Any brand suggestions/brands to stay away from?
I'm particularly wondering about this in terms of the water purifiers and mini-ovens.

-- Water filters: Is a sink attachment better than a pitcher (or vice versa)?

-- Mini-Ovens: Are these actually any good? I'm missing my oven back in the US (the big kind that sits underneath the stove) and I want to be able to bake things like cakes and pies as well as healthier dishes here. Does anyone have any experience with theses?

(For the record, I'm looking at things like this: http://healsio.jp/ )

In short, I'm looking for decent price ranges (quality-wise) and reviews (preferably based on experience).

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer!

I would start at www.kakaku.com to compare prices and for reviews. Also check out the reviews on www.amazon.co.jp

I agree. Kakaku.com has the links to other sites (even Amazon) and gives the best prices and also allows people to review the products. Sometimes the #1 products are not the best, but just the most popular.

If you can't read Japanese, install Google Chrome and allow them to translate the pages from Japanese to English.

Although many of the sites will ask for credit cards, etc., there are usually options for bank transfers, payment through convenience stores and COD. I use them all the time and have not once regretted it (so far)

rice cooker
there are huge variety.
If your stay is 1-2 years, you don't need to buy expensive one.
brand: zojirushi, tiger, and other famous companies( Panasonic, Toshiba, sharp, Mitsubishi, hitachi,etc). an expensive cooker has more functions, but evern if the cheapest one, still work well. Buy a Japanese brand cooker.
size; if you are a single, 3cup cooker is fine. if you eat with 2 persons, 5.5cup cooker.

if purpose is just to cook rice, cookers less than 10000yen are Ok. Actually, I use a cheaper cooker for more than 5 years, it is still fine.
Be sure that you should not cook rice a large amount in one time. 5.5cup cooker does not mean that you can cook up to 5.5cup. If you cook 5.5cup, it's full,sometimes overflow. 3cup rice is good for 5.5cup cooker.
good rice grain serves you good taste.
Buy a fresh rice as possible. for 1-2 persons a 5kg package is Ok. DO not buy the cheapest rice, which might be old, and smell badly when you are cooking. Watch a supermarket's advertise. Best buy is 1500-1700yen for 5kg with famous rice brands. If you have enough money, you can buy the expensive rice. Generally, the expensive one is better in taste than cheaper.
Freshly cooked rice is always better than precooked storage one. Do not keep cooked rice in warm state in cooker, rice will be brownish in a day. Store the remaining cooked rice in refrigerator in a day. for a long time, it is best to freeze. cooked rice is covered with wraps(saran wrap),make a onigiri shape, and freeze it. When eating, warm it in micro-wave oven.

By the way, recently I and my fiancee bought them at Bic camera outlet in Yurakucho and Ikebukuro.
Although the alternatives have less variety, but items are good and reasonable.
Check it out!
http://www.biccamera.co.jp/shoplist/y_outlet.html
http://www.biccamera.co.jp/shoplist/i_ekimae.html

Their small kitchen appliances are very good. I use a rice cooker daily, that was bought in Japan at least 10 years ago.

Wait until you see their big refrigerators..

There are microwaves that also bake, broil and steam cook. The first ones came out in the 1980s.in Japan then in Europe, with the steam function coming out in the early 2000s.

I got by some miracle a multi-functions microwave in Canada in the late 1980s and it lasted 15 years. Can't find one again, unfortunately..

I may be prejudiced but the only advantage of the big ovens we have in North America is their size.
They are nowhere as advanced as the Europeans and Japanese ones and don't have their numerous programmable functions...

Dito for the burners on North American stoves..many still have visible coils, VISIBLE coils! others have coils under glass..this is all so 1970s!

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

My main problem is that I've never purchased kitchen appliances before (they always come with the apartment) and I have no idea what I'm doing. I know what the prices and products available at Bic Camera and Yodabashi Camera (my two shopping options - don't want to shop for these things online!) are, but I don't know what to look for.

For example, are there features that you definitely want on your mini-oven/rice cooker/etc? Or ones that you definitely don't want?

And as far as prices go, I know what the available ones are, but not what the goods are typically worth. For example, there are bakeries that sell chocolate croissants here for ��60 and ones that sell them for ��350, but the ��140-180 range is just about right. Can anyone give me any information like that?

Generally, if you are just starting out then purchase a basic, low end set to start. Then upgrade as you find need for more features.

However, there are a few "upgrades" that I might consider as necessary from the start. Here's my recommendations:

microwave: something basic is fine, skip the oven features unless you like to bake. Toaster ovens can often be had much cheaper than than upgrading to a good microwave/oven
rice cooker: a keep warm setting is very convenient
electric kettles: they're pretty much all the same, shop on price
water purifiers: no idea. I get my purified water at the grocery store (lifetime refills if you buy the bottle)

Microwave-oven: The things I'm looking at literally look like tiny ovens (like sophisticated Easy-Bake ovens!) that seem to have a microwave function instead of the other way around. I do love to bake which is why I'm looking at those specifically. If they don't work well, then I'll go without one of those and without a microwave entirely.

Water: What sort of program is that? I've never seen it at the grocery stores here. I'd love to try that instead of buying bottled water all the time. Do you need to pay every time you go in for refills, or only every time you need a bottle? About how large do the bottles run?

Thanks for the information, yllwsmrf!

Microwave-oven: The things I'm looking at literally look like tiny ovens (like sophisticated Easy-Bake ovens!) that seem to have a microwave function instead of the other way around. I do love to bake which is why I'm looking at those specifically. If they don't work well, then I'll go without one of those and without a microwave entirely.

The better (and more expensive) dedicated ovens are basically mini convection ovens. I would look at those if I baked more often, but they are pretty expensive (costing closer to 100000 yen then 10000 yen). Otherwise, the electric toaster ovens have served me pretty well in the past and are far more affordable.

Water: What sort of program is that? I've never seen it at the grocery stores here. I'd love to try that instead of buying bottled water all the time. Do you need to pay every time you go in for refills, or only every time you need a bottle? About how large do the bottles run?

They are pretty ubiquitous in the suburban supermarkets. Not sure about the city. There are also water delivery services that are good if you drink a lot of bottled water. They usually include the water cooler for free (which also has a heat function so you wouldn't need a hot water dispenser) and then you just subscribe to the water delivery. Its not the cheapest but very convenient.

Do not hear what the store stuff is saying. They want to sell higher price one, because of its profits
rice cooker less than 10000yen is perfectly OK.
Electric Kettles do you need that? I don't need. less than 4000yen is Ok, or cheaper 2000yen.
water purifier it is not necessary. tap water is clean, drinkable,100%safe. there is no scientic evidence that water which is passed through purifier is much healthy and tasty. Here is Japan, not other countries.
Oven-microwaves this is a problem.
You like expensive multifunction oven. Are you sure it is necessary ? You must be a good cooker. generally, Japanse uses different kind of pans on a range for cooking. convection-type is not familier. A single function microwave-oven, it only microwave heating is around 10000yen. A litte higher 10000-30000yen one have another function, oven by electric heating,we call ''oven-range''. It might be OK for you. another choice is ''oven toaster''. re-heating pizza is Ok by this.
If you are single, you want to make an instant coffee. Put the instant coffee powder in a cup, pore water, then heat microwave oven 1-3min. Done. Do you need electric kettle ?

water purifier it is not necessary. tap water is clean, drinkable,100%safe.

Yes. However, some cities and buildings in Japan have older pipes that can affect the taste of the water. There may also be a higher concentration of chlorine in tap water than you are used to, so many people prefer to use a filter if only to improve the taste. That said, tap water is generally good in Japan and I would try it out before deciding if a purifier or filter is necessary. But then again, they are relatively inexpensive so you might just want to go ahead and get one anyway.

there is no scientic evidence that water which is passed through purifier is much healthy and tasty. Here is Japan, not other countries.

Purifiers will make questionable water safer and healthier (by filtering out pathogens), but that function isn't necessary with Japanese tap water which is safe to drink.

generally, Japanse uses different kind of pans on a range for cooking.

Are you are referring to the pans used with IH cooktops?

A litte higher 10000-30000yen one have another function, oven by electric heating,we call ''oven-range''. It might be OK for you.

These typically use halogen heating elements. Personally I find the convection ovens much better, but more expensive.

If you remove Chloline from water, microoganisms start to grow up. Purifier introduces new problems. since our circumstance is covered with huge amount of microoganism, purification is only tempolarily. A certain supermarket in Japan serves purified water in free. People bottles water in non-sterile containers, probable store at room temp. Microoganisms will grow soon. They are believing water once cleaned, keeps its cleaness for a long time. That's not true. Practically, small amout of microorganism growing in water is not so harmful,since our body is strong enough.
Another point is that most of purifier uses activated carbon as adsorbent. Adsorption of activated carbon is reversible reaction. the carbon will release adsorbed materials gradually. Although frequent replacement of the carbon is necessary, people don't do that. If you purifies water completely, it does contain no minerals,probably no taste. Tap water smells Chloline, but it is volatile. after boiling, Chloline will be gone.

Are you referring to the pans used with IH cooktops?

YES. You see many cooking TV program in Japan, they use IH heater or gas burners. Their points are easy cooking, less expensive, still taste good.
Have you ever seen Japanse 'shufu' preparing meals ?

If you remove Chloline from water, microoganisms start to grow up. Purifier introduces new problems. since our circumstance is covered with huge amount of microoganism, purification is only tempolarily.

I'm afraid you are not considering how home filters/purifiers are typically used. Microorganisms are not an issue as people usually purify or filter their water to remove the chlorine taste right before drinking it. It is not stored for any appreciable time after that where growth will be a problem.

Same goes for the grocery store filtered water. You are not meant to store it, and should have no problem using it before bacterial growth will be a problem. Also, clean your containers occasionally.

Tap water smells Chloline, but it is volatile. after boiling, Chloline will be gone.

Boiling or just letting water stand will release the chlorine as well, so that is an option. But there is a trade off as boiled water doesn't taste very good and may take more energy and time to make (you gotta heat it up then cool it down).

Are you referring to the pans used with IH cooktops?

YES. You see many cooking TV program in Japan, they use IH heater or gas burners.

I see. That is a different topic that what we are talking about with convection ovens.

No idea where you are in Japan, but here in Tokyo the tap water doesn't taste very good, so a filter and/or bottled water is recommended. I generally use a filter that screws onto the tap of the kitchen sink. I'd say anywhere between Y5,000-10,000 is reasonable for the starter kit, and then you buy replacement cartridges every x number of liters for Y1000-2000.

More expensive units have features that help you keep track of when to replace the cartridge, so they might be worth it for the sake of convenience.

Electric Kettles do you need that?

No, but I want one. Having an electric kettle makes cooking easier, especially in the morning. It will also save some space in the kitchen, since you can set them up anywhere without any problems. I'm also not buying a microwave, so without one it's either an electric kettle or a normal one, which will take up more time and kitchen space (especially immediately after use).

tap water is clean, drinkable,100%safe.
A purifier is simply something that I want. I like the taste of (extra) filtered water better than regular tap water, and buying a purifier once + new filters every now and then is way cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying bottled water everyday.

You like expensive multifunction oven. Are you sure it is necessary ? You must be a good cooker. generally, Japanse uses different kind of pans on a range for cooking. convection-type is not familier.

In Japan, cooking only with pots and pans on stove tops is most common, but in my country, that's not the case. Most people make their meals mainly by using the large ovens that almost always come with whatever house or apartment you've bought/rented. Things that need to be boiled, fried, or steamed are cooked on the stove, of course, but main dishes (especially meat) are baked or broiled in the oven. It's a really easy way to make a lot of food.

I'm not a good cook and I haven't done well adjusting to only frying and boiling everything. If you're not used to it and your family didn't do it every night growing up, it's really hard to do. I also really like baking sweets, in particular ones that I haven't been able to find at bakeries here.

I'm not a Japanese housewife, nor do I have the time to learn how to be one. I'm a college student with a part-time job who doesn't want to end up eating out every night because it takes so much effort to make a decent meal. Thank you for the price listings, but please don't try to talk me out of buying things that I feel will make my life easier and, in the long run, less expensive.

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Thank you everyone for your help! I'm going out fairly soon to take a closer look at each of the available items, so if I have any other questions, I'll post here again soon! :)