Japanese apartment kitchens are inamous for being small in size. It is therefore important that every inch of space is used intelligently. Therefore the task was to design a rice cooker specifically to be used in a small Japanese city kitchen.

Chōchin is the answer to these problems. Chōchin has a small capacity, however it is enough for a single person and as the majority of people in these apartments live alone, it more than suffices. The form of Chōchin, inspired by the lanterns which indicate a Japanese Izakaya, includes a very small footprint, meaning it will take up a very small amount of space on a countertop.

The experience has been designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible with 3 simple dials which activate when pressed. The digital interface also means that Chōchin can be programmed into a wide variety of different languages for different markets.