Appliances

If you need help looking for/purchasing appliances for your kitchen. If you don't mind purchasing used, check out second hand shops for cheaper appliances.

Rice Cooker 炊飯器 Suihanki
As Japan is a country where rice is one of its staple foods, it is understandable that there are a multitude of different rice cookers that you can buy. If you do like rice, it will certainly be helpful in the kitchen. Modern Japanese rice cookers come in all shapes, sizes and colours and have a variety of buttons and options to assist in cooking the 'perfect' rice (and even other things!). For one to just cook your rice and then keep it warm for 1-4 people, you can probably expect to pay around 5000yen for a brand new one. Rice cookers can do more than just cook rice if you're adventurous. You can start small by just adding herbs and spices into the rice, or vegetables such as peas or beans. Work up by throwing fish or egg in. You can also cook meat with your rice at the same time, so long as you don't mind that the seasonings mix. No adjustments needed for any of this; your rice cooker automatically adjusts the time. And for the brave, you can try cooking a stew or even baking bread in a rice cooker (some more expensive models have options specifically to cook bread).

Oven
Gas and electric ovens like you're probably used to back home are a rare sight outside of schools or community centres. Most Japanese houses are too small to allow for an oven in the kitchen. Japan does, however, have combined microwave and oven systems. These can be used to heat things up, like a regular microwave, or used to bake and roast, like an electric oven, and some can even toast. They are not cheap (smallest ones starting from around 20,000yen), but if you need a microwave, why not look into getting the oven combination.

(requires constant purchase of gas canisters) || || (average 30,000) || ||
 * **Appliance** || **Price Range**
 * (yen　円）** ||  ||
 * Rice cooker || 2000 - 30,000 + || [[image:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41UrAATItUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg width="120" height="120"]] ||
 * Oven/Microwave combo || 15,000 - 30,000 + || [[image:http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/I/41irzU6bVOL._SL500_AA300_.jpg width="210" height="210"]] ||
 * Toaster Oven || 2,100 - 10,000 + || [[image:http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/31AOjNUTM3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg width="150" height="150"]] ||
 * Stove || 15,000 - 20,000 + || [[image:http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/31pQ4rMp66L._SL500_AA300_.jpg width="210" height="210"]] ||
 * Gas burners || 3,200 - 5,500 +
 * Refrigerator (varies greatly, depending on size) || 17,000 - 70,000 +