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It's tough living on a rice diet. But for Zojirushi, a Japanese kitchen-gadget maker, grains have been golden. The company specializes in rice cookers that fetch as much as $1,000. Its high-end devices, which look more like computers than pots, have enticed the class of techie epicures who like $10,000 stoves and fridges. With a series of innovations — from induction-heating advances to sleek, vacuum-sealed containers designed to serve rice at its most succulent, Zojirushi has cooked up a following that yields $600 million in annual sales.

Founded in 1918, Zojirushi long relied on Japan for the bulk of its sales. But as the recession tamps down luxury spending, competitors' cheaper models are making inroads against Zojirushi's luxury offerings. So Zojirushi has rolled out a wider range of tricked-out kitchen tools — from oddly small bread machines to too-smart toasters and wired teapots — that have allowed the company to expand sales overseas and well beyond rice. (See pictures of what the world eats.)

One product finding a niche in the U.S. is a line of insulated bento boxes with stackable lunch compartments, called Mr. Bento, that Zojirushi sells as an alternative to standard American lunch boxes. The bento boxes are designed to make it easy to take both hot and cold foods to work without having to rely on a microwave. The company also sells some 90,000 electric air pots to U.S. consumers each year. Sales of the air pots — which heat water at blazing speeds — have jumped 50% over the past three years as Zojirushi has expanded partnerships with gourmet retailers and Web merchants like Amazon.com.

Zojirushi's study of Japanese homes, which are tiny, has led to innovation. A $190 minibread-making machine that produces loaves half the size of those made by standard bread machines has become a surprise hit in the U.S. Consumers say it helps avoid the problem of large loaves going stale. "We don't have to be No. 1," says Tatsu Yamasaki, vice president of sales for Zojirushi USA, of the company's occasionally offbeat, high-margin products. "We'd like to be the only one."

That means avoiding commodity battles with rivals like Panasonic and Braun. Zojirushi briefly made dual-mug coffeepots, but when engineers couldn't sufficiently differentiate its product from other brands', the company abandoned the market. The focus now is on products that take advantage of Zojirushi's expertise in heat conduction and insulation. One recent hit in Japan is the "i-Pot," aimed at elderly tea drinkers. It sends an e-mail message to family members whenever the pot is used, so they can remotely confirm that an aged relative is up and about.

With clever gizmos like that one, Zojirushi has fashioned itself as the Nintendo of kitchen gadgetry. Both companies have crushed much larger competitors in narrow markets where their engineering talent has yielded marketable product improvements. And both have remained lean — with about 5,000 employees between them and small, stable management teams. Both have leaned heavily on slick industrial design. And just as Nintendo has become hip again with its underdog approach to video-game design, Zojirushi has been brewing up its own cult following with its sleekly crafted gizmos.

Even as it contemplates new products, like grills, for the American market, the company still devotes much of its engineering brainpower to perfecting the rice-cooking process. With that in mind, Zojirushi has a shiny new ricemaker designed by famed Japanese designer Toshiyuki Kita. The secret ingredient? It cooks not just rice but also risotto. Hello, Italy.

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• JEREMY CAPLAN
• Zojirushi ruled rice cookers — but to grow, it had to bring a unique design focus to other products