Despite being the birthplace of the humble rice cooker, a decline in appetites for the grain and cost savings to be found elsewhere are prompting Panasonic Holdings Corp to end production in Japan.

Instead, the Osaka-based manufacturer will transfer production to the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou by June 2023, according to media reports.

The move by Panasonic, which has made its popular rice cookers in its home country since 1956, symbolises a shift underway in a country that once led the development of a device now ubiquitous throughout Asia. But Japan’s shrinking and aging population and changing lifestyle habits among the young have seen rice consumption more than halve since the mid-1960s.

That has meant shrinking domestic margins for firms like Panasonic, which already produces low-end rice cookers in India. The company expects the move to China - where many of its rivals and suppliers are based - to improve production efficiency and profitability, the Nikkei reported.

 - Bloomberg