Zojirushi
Zojirushi has made vacuum-insulated ware in Osaka since 1918, when the firm sold hand-blown glass liners to bottle assemblers. Rice cookers, flasks, food jars and Air Pots here are genuine Australian stock, shipped from Melbourne.
A vacuum bottle company that learned to cook rice
Zojirushi began in 1918 as the Ichikawa Brothers Trading Company, a workshop in Osaka making one thing: hand-blown glass liners for vacuum bottles, sold on to the firms that assembled them.
The work was slow in a way that is hard to picture now. Nine skilled craftsmen working a full day could finish about 500 liners of the 1.8-litre size. Automation did not arrive until 1963, when Zojirushi developed Japan's first automated vacuum bottle production equipment.
The elephant arrived in 1923, when the company began making and selling complete bottles under its own mark. Zo means elephant in Japanese, chosen for strength, intelligence and familiarity, and registered for export as Elephant and Crown. The corporate name followed the mark rather than the other way round: the company only became Zojirushi Corporation in 1961.
Everything since has grown out of that one problem of holding a temperature. The push-top Air Pot dispenser in 1973. The first stainless double-wall vacuum bottles in 1981, with the manufacturing process patented. The first micom rice cooker in 1983. The company marked its centenary in 2018.
Induction or micom, and how the heat reaches the rice
The price difference between Zojirushi rice cookers is almost entirely a question of how heat gets into the pan. Everything we stock uses one of these two systems.
NW-QAQInduction (IH)
The inner pan itself becomes the heating element. A magnetic field heats the metal from every side at once, so there is no cool spot at the top or scorched layer at the base. This is what you are paying for at the top of the range.
NL-GAQ · NS-ZAQ · NS-TSQ · NS-LAQ05Micom
Short for micro-computer. A chip reads how much rice is in the pan and adjusts heat and timing as it cooks, with soaking and steaming already built into the cycle. Zojirushi introduced its first micom cooker in 1983.
How many cups do you actually need
Japanese rice cookers are measured in go, a traditional cup of roughly 180 ml of uncooked rice, which is smaller than a metric cup. A useful rule: the number of cups matches the number of people you regularly cook for.
A larger cooker will cook a small amount. A 10-cup model handles two cups perfectly well, it simply takes a little longer and uses more power than a 5.5-cup would. If you sometimes cook for a crowd, size up rather than down.
The reverse is not true. A 5.5-cup cannot stretch, and repeatedly cooking at maximum capacity gives you a wetter result and a longer wait between batches.
Every model here also steams, and handles brown rice, GABA brown rice, porridge and quinoa depending on the model. Compare the full range across brands in all Japanese rice cookers, or read micom versus IH versus pressure and our Zojirushi versus Tiger comparison.
Six things Zojirushi makes better than anyone
Rice cookers
Induction and micom models, every one built to Australian specification with an Australian plug.
GoCafe SM-VH95
A full litre of coffee that stays hot for a working day, in a body light enough to carry all of it.
SU-BA one-touch bottles
The Seamless Stopper line. Lid and gasket are moulded as one piece, so there is nothing small to lose at the sink.
SW-LA food jars
Thermo-ring construction holds soup above 62 degrees six hours after filling. Every part is dishwasher safe.
SE-KAE48 tea tumbler
Brews loose leaf in the tumbler with a dual infuser and strainer. The lid turns over to become the infuser stand.
Carafes and air pots
Glass-lined and stainless carafes for the table, plus the push-top Air Pot dispenser Zojirushi launched in 1973.
Two details worth understanding before you choose
The Seamless Stopper. On most vacuum bottles the lid has a removable silicone gasket. It has to come out to be washed, it perishes, and it gets left on the draining board. Zojirushi's answer, introduced in 2020, moulds the gasket into the stopper as a single piece. Nothing to remove, nothing to lose, nothing to forget before you put hot coffee in your bag.
SlickSteel. Rather than line the interior with a non-stick coating, Zojirushi electro-polishes the stainless itself to a mirror finish. There is no coating to scratch through, and nothing that holds the taste of yesterday's coffee.
Both matter more over years than they do on day one, which is rather the point of buying a flask that outlasts the fashion for it.
Every Zojirushi model we hold, by category
All Australian-market stock. Rice cookers carry an Australian plug and are tested to Australian safety standards, so no transformer is needed and the local warranty stands.
Rice cookers
Bottles, mugs and tumblers
Zojirushi SU-BA48480 ml · one-touch · Seamless Stopper
Zojirushi SU-BA36360 ml · one-touch · Seamless Stopper
Zojirushi SM-VH95 GoCafe950 ml · flip lid with safety lock
Zojirushi SM-VB72720 ml · one-touch open
Zojirushi SM-PD20200 ml · fits a coat pocket
Zojirushi SM-PD30300 ml · non-stick lined
Zojirushi SE-KAE48480 ml · tea infuser and strainer
Food jars
Before you buy
What is the difference between an induction and a micom rice cooker?
A micom cooker uses a microchip to adjust heat and timing while it cooks, but the heat still comes from an element under the pan. An induction (IH) cooker makes the pan itself the heat source, so the rice heats evenly from every side. Micom suits most households. IH is the upgrade if you eat rice most days and want the best texture.
Which size rice cooker should I buy?
Japanese cookers are measured in go, a traditional cup of about 180 ml of uncooked rice. As a rough guide, the number of cups matches the number of people you cook for. A 5.5-cup model suits two to four people; choose 10 cups for a larger family or batch cooking.
Will a Japanese Zojirushi rice cooker work in Australia?
Not safely without a step-down transformer, because Japanese models run on 100 volts. Every Zojirushi rice cooker on this page is an Australian model with an Australian plug, tested to Australian safety standards, so the local warranty applies.
What is the Seamless Stopper?
On most flasks the lid gasket is a separate silicone ring you have to remove to wash. Zojirushi's Seamless Stopper, introduced in 2020, moulds that gasket into the lid as one piece. Nothing to remove, nothing to lose, and no gap for residue to sit in. The SU-BA bottles and SW-LA food jars both use it.
Is SlickSteel a non-stick coating?
No, and that is the point. Rather than coat the interior, Zojirushi electro-polishes the stainless steel itself to a mirror finish. There is no coating to scratch through, and it does not hold odours or stains.
Genuine Australian stock, not grey import. Japanese-market Zojirushi runs on 100 volts and needs a step-down transformer, which voids the warranty and can invalidate home insurance. Everything on this page is supplied through Zojirushi's Australian distributor, so the voltage is right, the plug is right, and the warranty is honoured here.
Zojirushi rice cookers Induction (IH) models Micom and fuzzy logic Replacement parts Tiger rice cookers Lunch and bento Tea and coffee