Media

Book Launch on “Where There Are Asians, There Are Rice Cookers: How "National" Went Global via Hong Kong”

07 Jan 2010

The first book in English to focus on electric rice cooker and the impact it has had on the lives of Asian people will be launched at the University of Hong Kong tomorrow (January 8).

Based on over 40 interviews conducted with key figures at both National/Panasonic and Shun Hing Group, the book provides a fascinating insight into the process by which the National rice cooker was first localized and then globalized. Interspersed throughout are personal accounts by individuals in Japan and Hong Kong for whom owning a rice cooker meant far more than just a convenient way of cooking rice.

The book also highlights the role Hong Kong, as a free port, played in the rice cooker's globalization and describes how the city facilitated the transnational flow of Japanese appliances to Southeast Asia, China, and North America.

The book's author, HKU Department of Japanese Studies Assistant Professor Dr Yoshiko Nakano, will host an "In Conversation with the Author" session at the book launch.

Media representatives are cordially invited to the event. Details are as below:

Date: January 8, 2010 (Friday)
Time: 3:00 to 3:45 pm
Venue: KKLG 104, K.K. Leung Building, HKU
Speaker: Dr Yoshiko Nakano, Assistant Professor, Department of Japanese Studies HKU
Moderator: Professor Louise Edwards

About the author:
Dr Yoshiko Nakano is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Hong Kong where she teaches intercultural communication and media. With Alan Knight, she has co-edited a volume of essays on international press coverage of the Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 entitled Reporting Hong Kong.

About the book:
"The book meticulously describes the process by which the Chinese and Japanese worked hand-in-hand to create products that would appeal to local people." - Nikkei Business
"Consumer products do not become popular just because of their advanced technology. Based on numerous interviews, this book vividly describes the process by which rice cookers overcame significant cultural barriers in advertising, logistics and marketing and conquered rice-eating countries around the world." - Ryuicihiro Matsubara, University of Tokyo, Asahi Shimbun.

"This is an exciting story that develops like a Hong Kong movie, yet, at the same time, puts home appliances in a broader context by considering the role of Hong Kong as an international showcase and the city's relationship with mainland China." - Kan Nozaki, University of Tokyo, Yomiuri Shimbun

More information about the book at: http://www.hkupress.org/book/9789888028085.htm

For enquiries about the book, please contact Ms Christy Ho (chhristy@hku.hk ).

For media enquiries, please contact: Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk  or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk.