Rice Cookers and Localisation in the 1950s

A quick note on an interesting book just published by Hong Kong University Press with a great title – Where There are Asians, There are Rice Cookers – How National Went Global via Hong Kong by Yoshiko Nokano, who teaches Japanese Studies at Hong Kong University.

The book succinctly details how Japanese manufacturers worked to create a range of household appliances and gadgets uniquely suited to the Asian market, invariably using Hong Kong as their launch pad. The prime example used is the National rice cooker developed by National/Panasonic and Shun Hing Group. The book includes a lot of advertisements used in the 1950s by Japanese companies in Hong Kong to promote new products such as the electric rice cooker – and it is true – everywhere in the world you find Asians you will find rice cookers. Nokano talks about the development process, the sales and marketing of these new appliances with ‘local characteristics’ and how they have changed the Asian household and society over the intervening decades.

A great subject and well handled – fascinating study.