A new donabe is not ready to cook in. There is a step first.
Unglazed Japanese clay is porous. Used straight out of the box, it leaks, stains and holds odours. The step that fixes it takes one simmer and a bowl of leftover rice, and almost no overseas listing mentions it.
Own something else Japanese? Check what will destroy it →
What medome actually does
Season it by cooking a thick rice porridge in it: put cooked rice in the pot, fill to roughly 80% with water, bring to a boil on low heat and simmer, then cool completely. The starch seeps into the pores and seals them. Sources differ on how long to simmer — from 20 minutes up to an hour — so if you are unsure, err towards the longer end.
Sealing the pores stops water seepage and makes the interior less absorbent, so the pot takes on far less stain and odour from strongly flavoured dishes. Skipping it does not break the pot, but the staining and the absorbed smell of the first few dishes are not something you can scrub back out afterwards.
Musubi Kiln — donabe & cookware ↗A Banko-ware donabe — listed as gas only ↗
Earthenware, not porcelain
This is a property of porous earthenware, not of porcelain. Porcelain is vitrified and needs no seasoning — which is why the earthenware/porcelain distinction has to come before any care advice.
Where to look
Donabe are made in several pottery regions, Iga and Banko among the best known for direct-flame ware. Whatever you buy, check whether the piece is earthenware or porcelain before you follow any care advice — the two want opposite things.
Musubi Kiln — donabe & cookware ↗A Banko-ware donabe — listed as gas only ↗
The Banko-ware pot above is worth opening for a second reason: its description states the heat source plainly — gas only, not induction — and then says nothing whatsoever about seasoning it before first use. That combination is normal, and it is why this page exists. Whatever you end up buying, the listing is reliable about the hob and silent about the first simmer.
SourcesThe other guides
Agarwood: the fake has a tell
The scent exists because the tree was infected. Uninfected wood is pale and light — whatever was added.
What a whetstone grit number does not tell you
There is no dominant standard behind the number. Two #1000 stones can cut differently.
The board decides how long the edge lasts
Glass dents, rolls and chips edges rapidly. Wood is self-healing — but grain matters more than "hardwood".
Santoku, gyuto, bunka, nakiri — and which is handed
Two of these are the same knife. And a nakiri suits either hand; the usuba it resembles does not.
Washi: what the word covers
JIS defines it — and the definition says most washi today is machine-made from chemical pulp.
A matcha whisk is one piece of bamboo
Carved from a single piece, so a snapped tine is not a repair. The tine count is a spec, not a score.
Goat hair or synthetic, for a Kumano brush
Not a quality ladder. Natural hair holds powder; synthetic is built for cream and liquid.
“Ceremonial grade” is not a standard
ISO and Japanese labelling define how matcha is made. Neither defines a grade.
A single-bevel knife is made for one hand
Ground on one side only. The wrong side does not cut badly — it does not work.
White steel or blue: which carbon steel
Blue holds an edge longer and is harder to sharpen. Which is better depends on how often you sharpen.
Rust or patina: which one are you looking at
One protects the blade, the other eats it. Scrubbing the wrong one leaves the knife worse off.
What HRC on a knife listing buys you
Western knives sit at 52–58 and 20–22°; harder steel is what permits 15–18°. Higher is a different bargain.
A chipped knife: cause, and what repairs it
Repair is subtraction — grind past the chip on a coarse stone, then work back up the grits.
Giving a knife: the belief, and the coin
A gifted knife is said to sever the relationship. The custom is that the recipient hands back a coin.
The handle: porous, replaceable, sometimes handed
Friction-fitted, not bonded — so it can be replaced. And a D-shaped handle is made for one hand.
Mould on a bamboo steamer, and the answer English guides skip
The usual fix starts by soaking it. A seiro maker calls soaking strictly forbidden.
What destroys lacquerware
Dishwasher, microwave, sunlight. All normal, all irreversible on urushi.
Is urushi safe to eat from?
Uncured urushi gives most people a rash. Cured, reactions are possible but less common.
Urushi and bacteria: what was actually measured
A prefectural institute put eleven lacquer films through JIS Z 2801. Most came back undetectable.
Is a Damascus knife real? The word changed
The original ceased production around 1900. Since 1973 the word has meant pattern welding — decoration.
What a donabe is actually doing
It conducts heat badly. That is the product — and it is also why it cracks.
Why a donabe does nothing on induction
Induction heats metal, not clay. Most donabe never get warm — and cannot be converted.
What is actually in a kintsugi kit
Real urushi cures in a humid box over days to weeks. A kit that sets in an hour is something else.
Eating from a kintsugi repair: what actually decides it
Not urushi against epoxy. Whether the material states food-contact compliance.
Japanese chopsticks: the point, and two gestures
Pointed where Chinese ones are blunt. And two ordinary gestures read as funeral rites.
Sumi or India ink: the binder decides
Sumi is soot held by animal glue. India ink needs no binder and dries waterproof on its own.
Porcelain and the dishwasher: where is the pattern
The body is impermeable. It is the decoration that is exposed — and you can feel which kind it is.
Tetsubin or tetsu-kyusu?
One boils water and gives you iron. Putting the other on heat cracks its lining for good.
Rust inside an iron kettle: the fix people look for is the damage
The spots appear in the first week. The makers’ association says do not take them off.
How much iron does an iron kettle actually give you?
The form is settled by a 2003 paper. The amount is not settled by anything.