I've seen in quite a few series over the years that the Japanese households don't seem to possess an electric hand mixer. You'd think that would be one of the first kitchen power tools to buy. Prices should start from 1000 yen or so, which makes it not an issue. I wonder what's the deal? Saying you don't need it for the traditional Japanese dishes is nonsense because the same is true for every country. In the more distant past commoners wouldn't have had much need for it, even if such a thing had existed. Conversely you could say having it makes it possible to bother to make dishes requiring it. Maybe it's the samurai spirit that forces the Japanese to stick to a hand whisk and take ten times longer for inferior results.