Mini rice cooker cases: The newest Japanese capsule toys we never knew we needed until just now

Realistic cases are great for storing coins, creating scenes of home life for scale anime figures.

Perhaps no company in Japan is better at producing things we never knew we needed until the moment we saw them than Kitan Club. Previous hits from the the capsule toy maker have included Pokémon costumes for our pet cats, futons for our smartphones to sleep in, and Japanese bidet-toilet replica water squirters.

Now Kitan club is back with a new reason for us to throw 300 yen (US$2.75) into a gachapon machine: cute and cool miniature rice cookers.

While they definitely look the part, especially if you toss a few grains in, these aren’t actual cooking appliances, though. Instead they’re fashionable little cases in which to keep coins or other small items. Six different colors are available, all of which sit easily in the palm of your hand.

▼ Just like with real rice cookers, the lid opens and the pot is removable.

To really complete the effect, you’ll need to attach a sticker with illustrated buttons and digital display…

…and thankfully Kitan Club is ready to accommodate those of us without highly developed fine motor skills by packaging each case with two decals, in case you screw up with the first one and need to try again.

The company says the case will hold 10 100-yen coins, making it a handy helper when you’re out shopping. If you don’t have a consistent need to organize currency, though, you can also use it to store other stuff, like lip balm or figures, which perhaps you purchased from other capsule toy machines.

▼ We have no interest in shunning Kumamon like the Tokyo Olympics organizers have.

But perhaps the cutest way to use this new capsule toy is as a to-scale prop for your figures or plushies.

Now all Totoro needs is one of those cool miniature Ikea bags, and he’ll be all set.

Related: Kitan Club
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