Insistence on the smallest detail! The secrets of "Made in Japan" rice cookersChallenge by Panasonic to develop rice cookers that reproduce "kamado-daki (hearth cooking)", which achieves the best tasting rice 2013.08.

Rice cookers are popular souvenirs from Japan. Some tourists even bring back several for their relatives. The secret of their popularity is that they cook delicious rice, making everyone in the family smile! It's no wonder, because "made in Japan" rice cookers are a high performance agglomeration that realizes delicious rice.

High performance and convenient functions are commonplace. "Made in Japan" rice cookers are popular as souvenirs

"Made in Japan" rice cookers attract the attention of many tourists at mass home electronics retail stores in Akihabara and Shinjuku or at the duty-free stores in Haneda Airport. The capacity to accommodate users ranging a single person to large families and high performance in evenly cooking delicious rice with microcomputer control are commonplace. Some of them have high-speed cooking functions or functions to cook differently according to season. Some can be used for cooking soups, dim sum and other dishes, or even cakes. As a matter of course, products designed for overseas use are compatible with 220V.
In particular, rice cookers made by Panasonic, Japan's leading general electrical manufacturer, have a reputation for cooking especially delicious rice. This is no wonder, as Panasonic pursues "Kamado-daki (hearth cooking)", the method to realize the best-tasting rice considered ideal by the Japanese people, who do not compromise when it comes to the deliciousness of rice. Shiny and fluffy, with each grain is standing separately, moderately elastic and sticky, but not too sticky, soft to the middle and moderately sweet - the secret of such ideal rice lies in the development site!

Three tons of rice used each year for the development of rice cookers! "Rice Ladies", rice-cooking specialists, persistently pursue delicious rice.

The biggest secret is the presence of rice specialists known as "rice ladies". The main work of these rice ladies, who are engineers, consists mainly of basic research on rice cooking and developing software for cooking under optimal conditions. From the perspectives of both software aspects concerning cooking, including the quantification of deliciousness, and hardware aspects such as rice kettles or heating methods, they develop the know-how needed to cook delicious rice. They repeatedly cook and taste, each time changing the type of water to bring out the taste or the type of rice, with over 50 types of rice being used each year. Although there are nearly 600 cooking techniques in their database, there is no end to the pursuit of deliciousness. One of the missions of the rice ladies is to research and develop know-how and recipes for overseas customers according to the food cultures of their countries. The Panasonic rice ladies use approximately three tons of rice per year developing rice cookers. Some of the rice ladies are professionals who have devoted themselves to developing rice cookers for over 20 years. Even so, perfect rice has not yet been achieved, and they continue their pursuit of further deliciousness.

No compromises when it comes to high heat, the inner pot, structure or shape, since the goal is kamado-daki, the method for cooking the best tasting rice

Legendary "kamado-daki", which realizes the best tasting rice.	Inner pot with a five-layer structure, enveloped by high heat and trapping heat inside.
Inner pot with a five-layer structure, enveloped by high heat and trapping heat inside.	Panasonic Steam IH Jar Rice Cooker SR-SAT102 featuring 130°C steam

Induction heated rice cookers have become standard in Japan. Panasonic's engineering team, the first in the industry to develop induction heating, is as important as the rice ladies. The second secret for deliciousness is the technical capability to reproduce "kamado-daki", a method of cooking rice using firewood and a clay pot, which achieves the tastiest rice that is desired by Japanese people, as closely as possible. The largest factor in cooking delicious rice is high heat like that of the flame produced by a kamado hearth. Panasonic's "Steam IH Jar Rice Cooker", featuring 130°C temperature steam, heats the entire inner pot quickly using the technology leading Japan's induction heat cooking technologies, and cooks rice by enveloping the inner pot in high heat. Moreover, the inner pot, with its five-layer structure, traps heat inside to reproduce the taste of fluffy, elastic kamado-daki rice. It is Panasonic's style to pursue the best in everything, even in the structure or flange shape of an inner pot. The outer ceramic layer of the inner pot, developed based on thorough research, stores heat the way a kamado retains heat.
The appeal of high heat cooking is that it brings out the sweetness and flavor of rice, giving it a fluffy texture that is obvious when taking just one bite. The Panasonic engineering team continues to be ablaze with a creative spirit, in order to bring satisfaction to their customers.

Reproduces detailed heat levels, the secret of kamado-daki. Realizes firm, elastic, shiny, sweet rice using 130°C, high-temperature steam

130°C, high-temperature steam that realizes firm, elastic, shiny, sweet rice (image). There is a traditional Japanese saying regarding cooking delicious rice that goes, "Hajime choro-choro, naka pappa, hitonigiri no wara moyashi, akago nakutomo futa toruna (first use low heat, turn it up in the middle, then turn the heat up just for a moment. Never remove the lid, even if a baby cries)". Panasonic's "Steam IH Jar Rice Cooker", featuring 130°C steam, faithfully reproduces the detailed heat levels described in the saying above - boiling, simmering and steaming. In particular, the 130°C, high-temperature steam realizes firm, elastic, shiny, sweet rice by performing the later process of applying heat when nearly water has gone from the rice cooker. Through this process, rice remains soft and tasty even if it grows cold in lunchboxes, etc. Panasonic stands by not only cooking delicious rice, but retaining the deliciousness of rice kept warm, and makes it possible to maintain this deliciousness by preventing rice from drying out while being kept warm.
Panasonic has always delved into every facet of technology, such as how to realize maximum heat using a household current or what is the best material for coating the interior of an inner pot. This persistent spirit of inquiry is one of Panasonic's secrets. Of course, one of the concepts Panasonic adheres to is technology that takes users into consideration, through means such as ease of care or the convenience of having the capability to be utilized for making soups or steamed dishes. The creation of "Made in Japan" products is so thorough that it takes into consideration such details.

"5-blade" shavers that reproduce the method of manufacturing Japanese swords, which could be made only in Japan

Thirty-degree acute angle nano-edged inner blades for cleanly shaving even tough and hard-to-shave hair; blades made with thoroughly-forged wear-resistant stainless steel. Panasonic's thorough craftsmanship is also observed in its razors, a necessity for grown men. Panasonic's "5-blade shavers" enjoy a high reputation among users, receiving comments such as "it achieves a close shave without damaging skin", "it can even shave unruly beards cleanly from the roots", or "once I started to use it, I couldn't live without it."

Catches each hair with the world's fastest motor with 14,000 strokes per minute.

The "forging" technology of heating steel and applying pressure to harden it, which is also used for making Japanese swords, is used for these blades. The tip angles of the inner blades that cut hair are sharpened to the nano level and have an angle of 30°, which is reminiscent of the beautiful warping of a Japanese sword. This 5-blade technology, which could only be created in Japan, is a masterpiece that concentrates the 50-year history of Panasonic's Hikone factory. The Lamdash 5-Blade shaver is equipped with a micro-sized linear motor that was developed by Panasonic for this shaver. The drive force of the motor is 14,000 strokes per minute. The blades catch each hair with the world's fastest(*1) motor. *1 Among household electric shavers (as of July 2013, according to research by Panasonic)

Japan's leading general electrical manufacturer, contributing to the improvement of the peoples' lives and the progress of society

Panasonic is a general electrical manufacturer that is representative of Japan. Since its establishment in 1918, it has had the fundamental principle of contributing to the lives of people worldwide and the progress of society through its business practices. It is a fundamental concept of Panasonic to place "people" at the center, looking at and improving their "day-to-day lives". Many products produced by the company's craftsmanship, which adheres to quality and user-friendliness, have gained the support and trust of customers not only in Japan but all over the world.
The place where you can interact with Panasonic's cutting-edge products and enjoy yourself experiencing a futuristic life is "Panasonic Center". You can enjoy suggestions for new ways of using home electronics including rice cookers, microwave ovens, and refrigerators. Panels introducing products are written both in Japanese and English, and English-speaking staff are also available.

Panasonic Center Tokyo

Address:3-5-1 Ariake Koto-ku, Tokyo
Directions:A two minutes walk from Kokusai-tenjijo Station on the Rinkai Line
A three minutes walk from Ariake Sation on the Yurikamome
Hours open to visitors:10：00～18：00
Closed:Monday and New Year's holiday
Phone:03-3599-2600

Panasonic Center Tokyo

Panasonic Center Osaka

Address:4-20 Ofuka-cho Kita-ku Osaka-shi, Osaka
Directions:In front of the JR Osaka Staion
Hours open to visitors:10：00～20：00
Closed:No scheduled holidays (Wednesday, Bon holidays and New Year's holiday for the Living Floor on the 1st basement)
Phone:06-637-1700