First, another reason why it is a mystery- countries that have huge fridges usually also buy in bulk, which is very rare in Japan where most household shopping is done on a bike and Costco type shops have never really taken off.
My latest conclusion is that it’s partly to make up for the lack of convenient shelf and cupboard space in the average Japanese kitchen, leading to telling my mother in law that it shouldn’t go in the fridge (Marmite! Shortbread!) leading to complete mystery as to where to put it.
Although I have seen similar things in other Japanese houses, I am perfectly aware that most of my insight into Japan comes from one not especially typical family, so others’ ideas very gratefully received. My previous attempt to explain this is part of Japanese Gadgets and Technology Explained
Rachel said,
August 25, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Here are some of my ideas.
1. Attack of consumerism. Young married couple go into appliance store. They pick the BEST. Which is of course, the biggest.
2. Increasing awareness of food poisoning issues means more prepared food is put back in the fridge, unlike my mother-in-law, who used to leave it in containers on the table, as Japanese prefer food at room temperature.
3. An increasing profusion of products and condiments like dressings
4. More people eating cheese and yogurt and other dairy foods
Japanese Business Cards said,
September 3, 2009 at 8:16 am
It’s the inevitable “Americanization” of the world. It’s a McDonalds at every station, and milk/dairy introduced into the Japanese diet like never before. So just like the west has adopted some of Japan influences, Japan will likely see larger fridges, DRYERS common to the process instead of the older way of hanging clothes out to dry, etc. It’s a changing world…
Joshua Zimmerman said,
November 9, 2009 at 7:49 am
Nothing is worse than living in Japan and having a super small fridge. The one I have now is so annoyingly small. I can’t fit more than a days worth of groceries in it.
crella said,
November 18, 2009 at 6:36 am
One other factor is ochugen and oseibo. If you get a bunch of these you refrigerator gets stogged twice a year. It doesn’t help that one particular item may be ‘in’ each year so that you get 20 boxes of ham, or the next year 20 boxes of butter sets (butter, cheese etc in a box). Add to that extended families getting together for Obon and Oshogatsu and you have several reasons for a big fridge.
sixamts said,
December 4, 2009 at 11:54 pm
My take on it is the lack of space. When I was in Tokyo, I simply didn’t have the space for a large fridge. Now that I’m in Sendai, I have much more space and a larger fridge.
I think that large fridges will become more prevalent as the amount and cost of the energy they use decreases.