Even Chinese tourists buy these to take home after a visit to Japan. You can make anything from pancakes to steamed vegetables and, of course, rice—and even the cheaper models have things like built-in on/off timers and settings to keep your cooked rice nice and warm.

Japan’s Washlet toilets are famous the world over; their elaborate functions allow you to have a more hygienic lavatory experience. But what is the No. 1 device even Westerners are known to buy here and take back home? The heated toilet seat! As long as you have an electrical outlet in your bathroom, you can affix one of these to any privy and ensure a toasty warm bottom with every sit.

Many of us come from countries that use the imperfect two-knob shower system, where you adjust one for hot water and one for cold, mixing them to get the correct shower temperature. In Japan they use an automatic temperature control lever on the shower, or a button on a unit mounted on the wall, that sets the temperature to the exact degree you want. No finicky adjusting!