6 Japanese Appliances To Stay Away From Buying
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The Japanese manufacturing market is known for quality and craftsmanship — from cars to technology, Japan has a reputation for being one of the powerhouses of industry in the global market.
Appliances from Japan, however, aren’t all known for the same thing. A few of them aren’t worth the average consumer’s money, due to pricing, faulty parts and other product-related reasons.
Here are six Japanese appliances to stay away from buying:
Luxury Toilets
Having a fancy place to answer the call of nature might seem like an upgrade, but do not be fooled by all the lights, streams, and other advanced features that might come with a Japanese-made toilet.
“Japanese toilets like the Toto Neorest series offer impressive features such as bidet functions, heated seats, and self-cleaning, but they come with a hefty price tag of $5,000 or more,” explains Wyatt Underwood, a business founder of Playground Expedition. “Many consumers find these features unnecessary and can opt for more affordable models that still offer good functionality without breaking the bank.”
Heated Toilet Seats
While on the subject of porcelain bowls, you might feel that getting an entirely new plumbing receptacle is unnecessary, opting for a heated toilet seat to add to the comfort of your bathroom. However, buyers beware of some of these products made in Japan, which might not fit your pipes and drains outside the country.
Models like the Washlet DL-RG31JP-WS were designed to meet and fit into Japanese plumbing. This means they could potentially be non-compatible with your toilet at home. On top of the at, parts are expensive and may be difficult to replace.
High-End Water Boilers
The ease and speed of a water boiler might be enticing to you as a consumer, but if you are looking for a high-end model, it might be best to try sticking to a domestic brand.
“Brands like Tiger and Zojirushi produce excellent water boilers, but their high-end models can be quite expensive,” Underwood remarked.
As an example, Underwood described how “…the Zojirushi CV-DCC40XT costs around $200. I believe that lower-priced models can meet the needs of most consumers effectively.”
Gas Grills
Thinly sliced proteins and produce are staples of Japanese cooking, which you can make at home using a gas-powered, smokeless grill that is more commonly called a Yakiniku grill. The only problem is that you’ll have to buy butane cartridges to get the heat ready for the meat, which could be hard to find if you do not live in Japan.
Once you are out of gas, proper disposal of the canister is tricky and leaves you with more trouble on your hands than it’s worth. The best bet for summer is to find a grill that uses good old-fashioned charcoal.
Rice Cookers
Electronic rice cookers can be found in almost every household in Japan. They are a quick and easy way to cook up a batch of rice to perfection. The biggest problem is their size — if you already have cramped living quarters and limited kitchen space, an electric rice cooker takes up a lot more than might be available.
And it’s not just the size of this appliance that’s large, the price tag can go up, too, especially if it is made and imported from Japan.
“While Japanese rice cookers are often top-quality, some high-end models can be overly expensive without offering significantly better performance than mid-range models,” Underwood explained.
“For instance, the Zojirushi NP-NVC10 is a fantastic rice cooker but costs around $500. For most consumers, a $100-$200 model from the same brand performs almost as well,” Underwood said.
Washing Machines
Specifically, Samsung at-home clothes washers. While the company produces many notable and well-crafted electronics, washing machines typically do not make their “best of” list.
In fact, between 2011 and 2016, Samsung gained infamy for producing faulty washers, ones that reportedly “exploded.” The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s November 2016 recall notice stated that Samsung’s “top of the washer can detach from the body of the machine while in use, posing a risk of injury; nine related injuries were reported.”
This came in the wake of a class action lawsuit and the recall of 2.8 million top-loading washers Samsung had sold globally, including in the United States.
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