How to Season New Japanese Pottery: Donabe vs Teapot
“Season your new pottery” gets repeated as blanket advice more often than it actually applies. Some pieces genuinely need it. Others don’t need anything at all. And the two common cases that do, a donabe or porous bowl and an unglazed kyusu teapot, call for different methods, not the same rice- water treatment for both.
Does your piece actually need seasoning?
Check the glaze first. Fully glazed pottery and any porcelain piece has a sealed, non-porous surface already, and seasoning does nothing useful for it. Our pottery versus porcelain guide covers what actually makes a piece porous in the first place. Seasoning is for pieces that are unglazed, only partially glazed, or made from a visibly porous clay body, most commonly a donabe clay cooking pot, a rustic rice bowl or plate, or an unglazed teapot.
Seasoning a donabe or a porous rice bowl (medome)
Medome: sealing a porous clay body
- Save the cloudy water from the first rinse of a batch of raw rice (the rinsing water, not cooked rice).
- Fill the piece with the rice-rinsing water, or with a thin rice-water porridge for a heavier donabe, until it’s substantially full.
- Bring it to a gentle simmer, not a hard boil, over low heat.
- Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes for a bowl-sized piece, longer for a full donabe.
- Let it cool to room temperature completely before handling or washing it. A hot clay piece cooled suddenly with cold water or a wet cloth can crack.
- Rinse and wash normally once it’s fully cool.
The starch in the rice water settles into the clay’s microscopic pores and helps seal them, which reduces staining, odor absorption, and the risk of small cracks widening under later heat.
Seasoning an unglazed kyusu teapot
Don’t use the rice-water method on a teapot. A kyusu’s porosity is part of what it’s for, since an unglazed Tokoname-style teapot is meant to develop flavor-related character over years of brewing, not get sealed shut before its first use.
Seasoning a new unglazed teapot
- Rinse the teapot gently with warm water before the first use.
- Brew a pot of ordinary, inexpensive tea, the same type you’ll normally use in it, rather than your best leaves. This first brew is about conditioning the pot, not about the tea itself.
- Discard that first brew rather than drinking it, since it can carry a faint clay taste from manufacturing.
- After brewing, empty the leaves, rinse with plain water, and let it dry fully with the lid off.
- Repeat the everyday-tea brew once or twice more over your first few uses if the clay taste is still noticeable.
Does seasoning ever need to be redone?
For a donabe specifically, yes, occasionally. Fine hairline cracks on the inside bottom of a well-used donabe are normal; they actually help distribute heat evenly during cooking rather than signaling a problem. Re-seasoning is worth doing again if the pot starts visibly leaking, develops a larger crack, or has been in storage unused for a long stretch. Outside of those situations, one seasoning before first use is generally enough for the life of the piece.
Frequently asked questions
Does all Japanese pottery need to be seasoned before use?
No. Only unglazed or partially-glazed, porous pieces benefit from seasoning, most commonly a donabe, a rustic unglazed rice bowl, or an unglazed teapot. Porcelain and fully glazed pottery don't need it.
What is medome?
Medome (目止め) is the practice of simmering rice-rinsing water in a new, porous clay piece so that starch fills the clay's microscopic pores, sealing the surface and reducing staining and cracking risk.
Should I use the rice-water method on a new teapot?
No. An unglazed teapot's porosity is meant to develop tea-related character over years of use, not be sealed shut. Instead, brew a pot or two of ordinary tea and discard it, rather than treating the pot with rice water.
Does seasoning prevent crazing?
No, they're unrelated. Crazing develops gradually in many glazes through normal use over years regardless of seasoning, and it isn't a sign a piece was seasoned incorrectly.
What happens if I don't season a donabe before using it?
It's more likely to stain, absorb odors, and develop small cracks under heat over time than a properly seasoned one. It won't fail immediately, but seasoning meaningfully extends how long it lasts.
Do I need to re-season a donabe later on?
Not routinely. Fine hairline cracks on the inside bottom are normal and actually help distribute heat evenly. Re-season again only if the pot starts visibly leaking, develops a larger crack, or has been unused in storage for a long time.
The short version
Seasoning only matters for unglazed or partially-glazed pottery, and the method depends on what the piece actually is: a donabe or porous rice bowl gets medome, a rice-water simmer that seals the clay’s pores, while an unglazed teapot instead gets a discarded first brew or two of everyday tea. Porcelain and fully glazed pieces need neither. Whichever applies, seasoning reduces staining and cracking risk, but it won’t stop the crazing that develops naturally over years of normal use.