Do you know how much can go wrong trying to cook rice in a regular pan over a stove - itās a recipe for disaster, excuse the pun.
Janaki of Insider.com identified 7 different things that can go wrong when cooking rice this way. Problems with measuring, seasoning, treating all kinds of rice the same, disturbing the rice as it cooks, cooking at the wrong temperature, and not fluffing before serving. Thatās quite the list hey?
But you can solve just about all of these issues by getting yourself a Japanese rice cooker.

Here weāre going to look at some of the main players in the space: Zojirushi, Toshiba, and Panasonicā¦
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Zojirushi is known for having the most Japanese rice cookers on the market, while the Japanese brands Toshiba and Panasonic have been big names in household appliances here in America for a great many years now, and have been great innovators in the field of Japanese rice cookers.
Letās kick this off with a quick comparison table, before we go into some in depth reviews of what each of these brands of rice cookers has to offer.
Then, weāll top the article off with a section where we answer some of your most frequently asked questions on the subject.
Comparison Table
Key Criteria - How We Compared These Japanese Rice Cookers
So, here are the different things we took into consideration to compare and assess these Japanese Rice Cookers.
How much rice it can cook?
Ok, weāre going to level with you here. Japanese portions donāt necessarily match our American portions.
So if youāre planning on making a curry and rice dish for the entire family or household, then youāre going to need a rice cooker with a 5-cup capacity, if everyone wants to get served at the same time.
What rices it can cook?
Most people just like to cook white long grain rice, and thatās perfectly fine. But if you want to expand your culinary horizons and perhaps experiment with cooking other, healthier types of rice, then youāll want your rice cooker to adapt to that perfectly.
And, as a matter of fact, many Japanese rice cookers can also be used to make porridge from steel cut oatmeal. How versatile is that? And others can be used to steam meat or vegetables.
How easy is it to use?
Although weāre going to be showing you some of the best Japanese rice cookers, we can assure you that there will always be a manual in the box with full instructions in English.
However, it may interest you to know that with some of the rice cookers that made our shortlist, they are so easy and intuitive to use, you may not need to ever look at the manual again after the first few uses!
Special Features
Special features always go down well with us. And when it comes to Japanese rice cookers, our favorite special feature is the keep warm feature.
This means that if anyone is late to the table for whatever reason, their rice doesnāt go cold by the time they get home.
Value for Money
Japanese rice cookers can really vary in price, so our advice to you is to check prices as you go along.
Best Japanese Rice Cooker
1. Best for Fuzzy Logic Technology: Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 Rice Cooker
Comparison Criteria
This product met all the comparison criteria that we set out earlierā¦
It has a high capacity, coming in at 5.5 cups, which is more than enough to provide enough portions for a small family. And if thatās not enough for you, you could instead go for the 10 cup version.
And you can cook several kinds of rice with it, including white rice, brown rice, and multigrain. Or you can also set it to sushi rice if you like. It will even cook frozen rice!
You can also use it to make oatmeal, or soup, and to steam vegetables and fish.
Itās also very easy to use, with large, easy to read buttons, and a large display showing how much time is left on the rice.
And it has that ākeep warmā feature we mentioned earlier.
Manufacturer Background
The Zojirushi Corporation has now been around for over 100 years, having been established as far back as 1918.
It had relatively small beginnings as a maker of hand-blown vacuum bottles, but its product lines have expanded massively during the following yearsā¦
Now they cover things like small electrical appliances, specialty cookware, restaurant equipment and more, and their products fly out to countries all over the world.
Today they are probably best known for their rice cookers, and many people who switch from the Zojirushi brand to other brands often say that they preferred their Zojirushi.
Why is this the best Japanese rice cooker for fuzzy logic?
There are many Zojirushi rice cookers on the market at the moment, and they all feature their special fuzzy logic technologyā¦
This technology basically enables the machine to āthinkā for itself. And it is programmed to make automatic adjustments to the time and temperature of the cooking according to information from itās sensors.
And this is how Zojirushi rice cookers give you perfect rice every single time.
We chose this as our favorite Zojirushi rice cooker for a number of reasons, including the aesthetic, the capacity and the variety of rice that it can cook. And it will even play āTwinkle, Twinkle Little Starā when your rice is ready.
Experience of Using the Product
Customers love using this rice cooker. After well over 6000 individual customer ratings on Amazon, the average customer rating still comes out at a whopping full 5 stars out of 5.
Moreover, they also gave it at least 4 and a half stars out of 5 for a range of different features, including: easy to clean, easy to use, timer function, versatility, battery life, and durability.
You begin by removing the inner cooking pan, use one of the included cups to measure your rice, then drain the rice until the water runs clear. Replace the pan, and close the lid.
Select what rice youāre using, then press the cooking button, and you can simply let the rice cooker do all the rest.
And for rinse-free rice, the only difference is that you press the pre-washed button before selecting the type of rice. It really couldnāt be easier.
And cleaning the pan afterwards is also very easy too.
Pros
- Large 5-cup capacity that can serve 10 small portions
- Features fuzzy logic technology to give perfect rice every time
- Very easy to use, with a large display, and few buttons
- Comes highly rated by customers for several features
Cons
- The display panel can be hard to read in low light because it's not backlit.
- 5-½-cup computerized rice cooker and warmer with advanced Neuro Fuzzy logic technology. Wall mountable
- Multi-menu selections; automatic keep-warm, extended keep-warm, and reheat cycles. Electrical Rating - 120 volts / 680 watts
- Spherical, nonstick inner pan allows for uniform heating; LCD clock and timer; retractable cord
- Menu settings include white (regular/sushi, softer or harder), mixed, porridge, sweet, semi-brown, brown, rinse-free and quick cooking
- Measures approximately 14 by 8 by 9 inches; 1-year limited warranty, Dimensions (W x D x H) : 10-ā x 13 x 8-ā inches
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular rice cooker, simply click on āCheck priceā to see if thereās a deal on now.
2. Best for Ease of Cleaning: Toshiba TRCS01 Rice Cooker
Comparison Criteria
This product met all the comparison criteria that we set out earlierā¦
It has a large 6-cup capacity, which means it can take up to 3 liters of uncooked rice to produce 12 cups of cooked rice. And that means thereās plenty for the entire family, and maybe even guests too.
Itās not just for white rice, you can also cook brown rice with it too, and mixed rice. It doesnāt matter if itās short or long grained, it can do the job. Or if you like a nice, hot oatmeal in the morning, it can even do that for you as well.
Itās also very easy to use - all the buttons are very clearly labelled, and the time display is even backlit, so you can still read it even in low light.
And it comes with some great special features, thereās the ākeep warmā feature we mentioned earlier, and thereās a delay option, so you can program your rice to be ready for when you come home from work.
And thereās also a quick rice feature that will get your rice sorted in as little as 30 minutes.
And not only does it meet all of our criteria, itās also available at an excellent price, even if you donāt manage to catch one of Amazonās occasional deals.
Manufacturer Background
Toshiba is an even more well established brand, having been around since as far back as 1875! But it remains a leading manufacturer to this day because of its constant innovation in its products.
It is a Japanese multinational conglomerate, and has been one of the biggest manufacturers of consumer electronics, home appliances and personal computers.
And while in recent years it has had to close down some of its subsidiaries for a number of reasons, many Toshiba products are still of excellent quality and are easy to get hold of.
But whatās particularly noteworthy about Toshiba in the arena of rice cookers is that they were actually the very first to develop them back in 1955, and sparked a kitchen revolution. A clear industry leader.
Why is this the best Japanese rice cooker for multiple types of cooking?
And as you may imagine, theyāve had plenty of time to work on and develop the product since 1955. And now it comes as a far more high-tech version than its predecessors, incorporating the latest technology to deliver results that are just superb.
This latest model can now handle all kinds of rice through an intelligent 6-step cooking process that will produce the perfect rice texture and flavor.
And while the ease of cleaning probably wasnāt one of their main concerns in developing it, it is certainly one of the great things itās got going for it.
The removable inner pot is entirely non-stick, so you wonāt have to scrape bits off and scrub it down, making it very easy to keep clean. And the inner lid is also removable for easy cleaning too.
Experience of Using the Product
Out of over 1,400 Amazon customers, more than 80% of them rated it at a full 5 stars out of 5, which brings their average customer rating to 4.7 out of 5.
Customers rated it at least 4 and a half stars for a number of different features including: easy to clean, flavor, easy to use, and the timer function.
Itās very straightforward to use. Once you have added your rice and water, you simply press the menu button until youāve selected the type of rice you want to cook, and then press the start button - itās that easy.
The cooker will take care of all the rest.
Pros
- Large 6-cup capacity, can serve up to 12 people
- Delay time, keep warm, and quick rice features
- Available at a great price - the best bang for your buck
- Nice little recipe book included too
Cons
- Some customers have said that they prefer the Zojirushi brand
- ABOUT TOSHIBA - Toshiba brings over 140 years of innovation, launching the first automatic electric rice cooker in 1955 and is a leader in the rice cooker industry.
- JAPANESE-STYLE RICE COOKER - Industry leading 3D cooking technology and intelligent 6-step cooking process. The steam valve and inner nonstick pot can preserve the steam and heat for perfect fluffy rice every time.
- PROFESSIONAL RICE COOKER - 7 pre-programmed settings to cook white rice, brown rice, mixed rice, short or long-grained rice, oatmeal, porridge perfectly in terms of texture, flavor and aroma. 12 cups cooked rice for family serving.
- QUICK RICE FEATURE - The Toshiba rice cooker has a quick rice feature, the specially designed sensor accelerates the cooking time to 30 minutes, which is an excellent and a great time-saving option.
- KEEP WARM FEATURE - The rice cooker keep-warm setting activates automatically when cooking is complete, holding contents at an ideal serving temperature for up to 24 hours.
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular rice cooker, simply click on āCheck priceā to see if thereās a deal on now.
3. Best for Multiple Types of Cooking: Panasonic 5 Cup Japanese Rice Cooker
Comparison Criteria
This product met all the comparison criteria that we set out earlierā¦
It has a large 5 cup capacity, sufficient to keep all the family well-fed at meal times.
And itās not just for white rice - more on that a little later.
Itās also very easy to use with large, clearly labelled buttons on the lid of the device.
Manufacturer Background
Like Toshiba, Panasonic is a major Japanese multinational electronics company. It has been around since as far back as 1918.
It started out as a lightbulb socket manufacturer, but then ventured into consumer electronics in the late 1900s, and now provides a particularly wide range of products, including home appliances, automotive systems and much more.
Panasonic ventured into making Japanese rice cookers in 1959, just 4 years after its initial invention by Toshiba. The Panasonic brand is known for its quality, and it remains in high regard to this day.
Why is this the best Japanese rice cooker for multiple types of cooking?
The Panasonic 5 Cup Japanese Rice Cooker has really come on leaps and bounds since its initial conception back in 1959.
The first rice cookers to come along on the market were more basic than the models we have today. And in 1988, Panasonic developed the worldās first induction rice cooker.
Moreover, this induction functionality is not just built into the bottom and sides of the cooking pan, but is even present in the lid.
But whatās really great about the Panasonic 5 Cup Japanese Rice Cooker, is how you can use it for a lot more than your regular white rice. It will work with brown rice, rinse-free rice, frozen rice, sushi, quinoa, congee, and sticky rice.
But thatās not all, you can also use it for a number of other dishes too! Itās not just a rice cooker - itās a multi-cooker. You can use it for oatmeal, soups, stews, and other slow-cooked meals besides. It can hold an entire liter of soup.
Experience of Using the Product
According to Amazon, more than 80% of customers rated the machine at a full 5 stars out of 5, resulting in an average Amazon customer rating of an impressive 4.7 stars.
Customers rated it at least 4 and a half stars out of 5 for a number of different features, including easy to clean, easy to use, flavor, and value for money.
Using it is easy. The rice levels are clearly marked out on the inside of the cooking pan, and you simply fill it with rice to the mark indicated, then add your water.
You can then select from the menu which type of rice youāre using, then press start, and off it goes.
The buttons are large and easy to read, as is the display panel featuring the time.
Pros
- Large 5-cup capacity - enough to serve 10 individual portions
- Can cook way more than just white rice, it will also cook other rice's, and can also be used for soups and oatmeal
- Very easy to use, with a large display, and few buttons to worry about
- Has received very high praise from customers
Cons
- Premium product at a premium price
- JAPANESE RICE COOKER ā Industry leading induction heating which creates an electrical current inside the pot to heat and cook rice, porridge, soup and more
- INDUCTION COOKING - Durable 7-Layer Inner Pan with Diamond Coating. The non-stick inner pan with copper exterior is designed for years of continual heat and use with no loss of efficiency
- DELICIOUS HEALTHY COOKING - 13 Pre-Set Cooking Programs automatically cook a variety of rice including delicious white rice, quinoa, porridge, sticky rice, brown rice, frozen rice and more
- KEEP WARM FEATURE - The rice cooker's automatic shut-off function prevents overcooking, while its handy keep-warm setting activates automatically when cooking is complete, holding contents at an ideal serving temperature for up to 12 hours
- ADDITIONAL FEATURES - Built-in umami-enhancing taste catcher, 7-layer inner cooking pan, special measuring cup for portioning the desired amount, ladle, and a non-scratching rice spoon for authentic Asian-style service
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best Japanese rice cooker?
We would argue that the best overall Japanese rice cooker is the Panasonic 5 Cup Japanese Rice Cooker, simply because of all the different items you can cook with it, making it far more versatile an appliance. It could even replace your slow cooker!
But we certainly get that not everyone can afford the hefty price tag that comes with it, in which case we would recommend the Toshiba TRCS01 Rice Cooker, which easily offers the best bang for your buck.
Is it worth buying a Japanese rice cooker?
Anyone who knows their rice, knows that it turns out best when cooked in a Japanese rice cooker. So if you like your rice to have the perfect taste and texture every time, itās hands down well worth buying a Japanese rice cooker.
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