The 2nd shot shows Fukuppy - a strange little mascot - keep reading for an extract from the news release. (The corect pronunciation is foo-KOO-pee.)
     TOKYO — Fukushima Industries said Tuesday [(October 15th)] it was rethinking its “Fukuppy” mascot, after the Internet erupted in sniggers over a name that recalls the catalogue of mishandling at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
      The Osaka-based refrigerator maker, whose name derives from its founder and has nothing to do with the area hit by an atomic catastrophe, has been ridiculed on social networking sites for the name it gave its egg-like mascot, which has blue wings and red feet.
      “I’m Fukuppy. Nice to meet you,” the smiling character with a human face tells visitors to the company’s website. “I think I’m kind with a strong sense of justice but people say I’m a little bit scatterbrained.”
      Fukushima Industries unveiled “Fukuppy” in April, blending the first part of the company name—Fuku—and the end of the English word “happy”, saying it represented the corporate philosophy of being a happiness-creating company.

      But the striking moniker was mistaken for “an inappropriate word among people in English-speaking places or its meaning was misunderstood on the Internet,” the company said in a statement.
      “We sincerely apologize for worrying many people and creating misunderstanding among them,” the company said, adding: “We will look into the name, including a rethink of it.”
      The firm, which makes industrial cooling systems and has offices in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan, said the name was nothing to do with the battered Fukushima power station.
      It is common for companies and organizations in Japan to have a cuddly mascot character that they use as part of branding. Many are brought to life by adults in full-size costumes who wander around sponsored events posing for photographs with children.

      Fukushima Industries home page is HERE (new window or tab) if you want to take a look at it.

      “This product was realized by developing and installing a 'water-cooled steam collection system,' which collects the steam generated in the process of rice cooking inside the main body. The cooker can be used in a wider variety of locations because it does not generate moisture, heat or odor. In addition, it can maintain high heat and improve the umami (savoriness) and sweetness of rice, (according to the company).
      The product is equipped with a water tank in the front side of the main body and a cartridge inside the lid for collecting the steam. The steam passes through the cartridge and a pipe and reaches the water tank, where it is condensed to water.
      This system eliminates the need for a stream outlet as is found on the top of traditional rice cookers. Because the steam remains inside the cooker, it does not mess up, heat up or moisten its surroundings.
      Traditional rice cookers have some shortcomings such as making shelves and walls dirty, decreasing walking space by a sliding shelf pulled out for rice cooking and posing a risk of being burned by the steam. With the new product, these problems are solved by keeping the steam inside the cooker.
      Furthermore, the heating power is maintained at high level after the boiling process because the steam does not escape. Traditional rice cookers are intermittently heated up at 850W to prevent the steam from boiling out of the steam outlet. In contrast, uninterrupted heating at 900W is possible for the new product, resulting in a 16% increase in the heat quantity during the main cooking process.

      The convection generated in this heating process increases the amount of reducing sugar by about 40% and the swelling of rice by about 11%. Therefore, the rice cooked by the new product is sweeter and more delicious.
      The steam is separated from the umami components (sugars, amino acid) while passing through the cartridge, and only the umami components are kept inside. Specifically, the umami components are condensed and the steam is stored in the tank when passing through a dam. The collected umami components are returned to rice in the steaming process, increasing its umami by twofold compared with that of rice cooked by traditional rice cookers."



In the lightbox image you still cannot see details, so I have included a larger size image of this and you can find it HERE (new window or tab) if you want to take a look at it. I'm purposely not telling you how much we paid for it because you'd think we are crazy to pay so much for a rice cooker. But, if you do research the price of this model, please be aware that we got it for more than 40% off the normal retail price. And -- yes, the rice truly is better tasting. The current products page at Mitsubishi is HERE (new window or tab). And - we bought the black colored model, it only comes in red and black and the red colored model is so popular that it sells for about US$40 more than the black colored model.