Born and raised in Hawaii.  So I love my rice.  At first I was skeptical because I can be a little bit of a cheapskate.  But the rice comes out softer than my old, cheapy rice cooker so I am very happy with the results.  Well built/constructed and easy clean up.  The only negatives are it does take an hour to cook rick (normal mode; 40 mins for quick) and I will never use all the available functions.