10 Must-Have Japanese Kitchen and Cookware Gadgets

Last updated: 19 May 2026

Japanese kitchens run on small, single-purpose tools. Most of them exist because a specific job kept being done badly with something general — which is why they earn their drawer space rather than sit in it. Ten small ones we would actually recommend, starting where a Japanese kitchen starts: with rice.

1. Marna Kiwami Rice Washer

The Kiwami rice washer is a bowl built for one job: rinsing rice. The ridged interior does the rubbing as you swirl, and the drain holes let the cloudy water out while keeping every grain in — no more chasing rice around a colander or losing it down the sink.

2. Standing Rice Paddles

Marna's rice paddles stand upright on the bench, so there is nowhere for a wet paddle to lie and nothing for it to stick to. The dimpled surface is the other half of the trick — cooked rice releases instead of clinging. The Kiwami paddle is the top of the line; the Premium TPX scoop does the same standing trick for less.

3. Rice Freezer Containers

The Kiwami rice containers hold one serve each, freeze it flat so it freezes fast, and go straight into the microwave with the lid vented. The raised centre lets steam circulate underneath, so reheated rice comes out steamed rather than soggy at the bottom. Cook once, eat properly all week.

4. Defrosting Tray

The Sugiyama Kinzoku defrosting tray is a slab of high-conductivity metal that pulls room temperature into frozen food far faster than air can. Meat from the freezer thaws on it in a fraction of the usual time — no microwave defrost setting half-cooking the edges, no plastic bag in a sink of water.

5. Stainless Prep Container Set

The Shimomura prep containers are the stainless trays you see in Japanese restaurant kitchens — cut and season everything before the stove goes on, stack the trays, cook in order. Stainless takes smells and stains better than plastic, and the set nests flat in a drawer. There is a 3-piece and a 10-piece as well.

6. Double-Blade Cabbage Peeler

The Gadget Con cabbage peeler has two blades, so each pass takes two layers. That fine, airy mound of shredded cabbage served with tonkatsu is exactly what it produces — dragged across half a cabbage, it fills a bowl in a minute, far finer than a knife will get you.

7. Suri Japanese Grater

The Motoshige suri grater is a small ceramic dish with raised teeth. Ginger and garlic go around in circles and come off as a fine pulp — with the juice caught in the dish rather than lost on a board. Nothing to disassemble, rinses clean in seconds.

8. Self-Standing Peeler

The Marna peeler stands on its end between vegetables, so the wet blade never lies on the bench — more hygienic, and no blade waiting edge-up in the sink. The blade itself is sharp enough to make thin work of pumpkin skin.

9. Activated Charcoal Oil Filter Pot

Tempura and tonkatsu leave you with a litre of perfectly good oil. The Yoshikawa oil pot filters it through an activated charcoal cartridge as you pour, taking out the crumbs and much of the odour, and stores it ready for the next fry. One replacement cartridge handles roughly ten uses.

10. All-Stainless Kitchen Scissors

The Shimomura pro-grade scissors are one-piece stainless — no plastic handles to trap water — and the blades come apart at the pivot, so the hinge actually gets washed. They cut through chicken, herbs, nori and packaging alike, and the sheath keeps them safe in a drawer.

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