NARRATOR:
Toshiba automatic rice cooker, model RC–10K, designed by Iwata Yoshiharu, manufactured in 1955 by Tokyo Shibaura Electric Company, now Toshiba Corporation. This electric rice cooker is made of metal, plastic, and electronic parts, measuring 39.4 centimetres high, 44.5 centimetres wide, and 37 centimetres deep.
The cooker is a pot with a white round body. The body is widest at the top and tapers down slightly towards its bottom. On top of the cooker is a shiny metal lid that rises about six centimetres above the top rim of the cooker. Atop the lid, in its centre, is a black plastic knob: a handle for lifting the lid. On opposite sides of the cooker are two black plastic handles that stick out about two inches from the sides of the cooker.
The cooker stands on three short legs made of black plastic, each about one inch high.
On one side of the cooker’s body, at its middle, is printed the name Toshiba in small, black, slanted italicized Roman letters that lean to the right and spell T-O-S-H-I-B-A. The letter ‘T’ is capitalised and the horizontal top line of the ‘T’ flows to the right in a graceful arch over the other smaller letters. This was the Toshiba corporate logo from 1950 to 1969.
Below the word TOSHIBA, a black plastic trapezoid is built into the side of the cooker. This holds a short lever which is pushed down to turn on the cooker. Above and below the lever are the Japanese Kanji characters, which mean ‘on’ and ‘off’ respectively. Just above the ‘on’ character at the top is a small horizontal rectangle that lights up when the cooker is turned on.
