We are thinking of replacing our dryer and I was hoping someone could give us a recommendation. The one we have now is a Tokyo Gas MA-040-S 903 7185 that we bought about 5 years ago. It has been very flaky - stopping before the clothes are dry and refusing to run at times. Have dryers improved in the last 5 years? Do you like/hate yours? Thanks in advance!

We don'tknow of any Japanese-brand clothes dryers that work well (get clothes dry within 1 hour, don't stop suddenly, don't require excessive maintenance). Your choices are (i) buy an American-brand dryer from Yamagiwa (Tokyo) or perhaps Kojima, if you have the space. Buy consumables at the same time because you may not be able to get spare parts a few years from now. (ii) hang your laundry in the bath and run a Japanese-brand dehumidifier (joshitsuki) for 5-8 hours. It is cheaper than a dryer for 1 hour.

Thank you for your response, jtok! I guess I'll just stick to what I've been doing, for the time being. I usually hang most of my clothes to dry. The ones that turn out stiff from hanging, I take them straight from the washer to the dryer for about 10 minutes and then hang them up. They turn out much softer if I do that. Not a great solution but I'm getting used to it.

Absolutely hilarious, jtok and Emi! I've been here about ten years and gone through three (count 'em!) dryers already. What pieces of junk--quite literally when you think of the waste piles they must make! I'm on the dry and soften routine, too, except in winter (can't stand that freeze-dried effect). Does anyone know which foreign brand works best in Tokyo?

A friend gave me her electric National washer & dryer set. I've had it now for about 6 years and she may have used it for 2-3 years. It works like a dream. The dryer heats up quickly, and the time it takes depends on what I'm drying. Kids clothes take less than one hour and heavy towels about one hour and a half. But to save on electricity bills, I use it only in winter and only after I've let the clothes dry partway outside. They dry quicker and of course softer that way. Maybe I lucked out and got a peach :)while the usual Japanese dryers are all lemons :(

Ah ha! So thats it - the Japanese clothes dryer gremlin! We have a 18 mth old Sharp dryer that in the last 6 months has be behaving erratically. eg; stopping before clothes are dry or not working at all but when the repair main shows up he cannot find anything wrong! A bit like the magic driveway at the car repair shop! We are moving into a new house that comes equipped with 12 yr old US made GE appliances. We were going to throw them out but I think we may now keep them just in case.