Donabe 土鍋

What is a donabe, and what does the clay actually do?

A donabe is a lidded earthenware pot built to sit straight on a flame, and the name is literally functional: do is earth or clay, nabe is pot. Wikipedia's entry on the object describes it as a traditional cooking vessel fired from a clay that is porous and coarse, usually glazed on the inside while the outer wall stays unglazed, which is why the base of a donabe often looks and feels rougher than its lid. The same entry notes that donabe are traditionally sized by sun, an old Japanese unit of length, rather than by litres. That root is still visible in the size eight and size nine labels our own listings use today. Most of what we stock carries Banko-linked vendor labels, and our Banko ware guide explains that clay body's heat resistance rather than repeating it here. Seasoning a new pot, washing it by hand and the fine crackle that shows up on the glaze over time are their own subject, covered in full on our donabe care guide.

Rice pot, hot pot or a warming pot: which shape do you need?

Three different jobs sit inside the word donabe, and our stock splits cleanly across them. A rice pot is built to cook rice on its own over direct flame until the base sets into okoge, the lightly crisp layer donabe cooks prize; our Banko-ware Clay Pot Rice Cooker Brown listing and our Tojiki Tonya Gray Clay Pot 1800ml listing both describe that same effect. The Tojiki Tonya pot is sized for three cups of rice at 1800ml and is currently in stock. The Banko-ware rice pot comes in two cup sizes, a 5 Cup at 2300ml and a 7 Cup at 4000ml; the 5 Cup size is sold out right now, so the 7 Cup is the one you can actually buy.

A hot pot donabe is the shape most people picture: wide and shallow enough to reach into with chopsticks, sized by the size eight and size nine system rather than by cups. Match a size eight or size nine label to the capacity stated on each Kakumei listing. Ten of our thirteen donabe are this hot pot shape: the Banko-ware Chrysanthemum Clay Pot at 2200ml, the Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot in a 2200ml size eight (in stock) and a 3200ml size nine (sold out), the Saji Pottery Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot for IH in both a 2200ml and a 3200ml size, the Mino-ware Black and White Clay Pot in a 2400ml and a 3000ml size, three separate Saji Pottery patterns (Blue Tokusa, Lucky Cat and Tokusa) each running a 2300ml or 2400ml size eight against a 2800ml or 3200ml size nine, the Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot in a 2400ml and a 3000ml size, plus the Tojiki Tonya Gray Clay Pot 3000ml. The Banko-ware Reed Pattern Clay Pot with Compartments is a hot pot shape too, but with its interior split into separate lanes so different ingredients cook in the same broth without mixing; that one is sold out at the moment.

Then there is a shape built for neither job: the Banko-ware Grilled Mandarin Pot is a small individual pot sold with its own small plate, made for warming a single mandarin over heat until the skin releases its fragrance and the flesh turns soft. It is not a shared cooking vessel and it is not built for rice; think of it as a one-person winter treat rather than a dinner pot.

Which kilns and clay bodies are actually behind ours?

Wikipedia's entry on donabe names Banko, Iga, Shigaraki and Mashiko among the kilns that make them. Three different vendor names on our own shelf trace back to just the first of those. Banko-ware, Ginpo and Saji Pottery are all Yokkaichi, Mie vendor labels working in the same Banko clay tradition our Banko ware guide covers in depth rather than repeating here. Ginpo's own site describes itself as a Banko ware maker founded in 1932, and Saji Pottery's own site dates itself to 1923, when it started out as a Banko ware wholesaler in Yokkaichi. Nine listings carry a Banko-ware, Ginpo or Saji Pottery vendor label: four Banko-ware, three Saji Pottery and two Ginpo, one of which is the induction pot covered below.

The Mino-ware Black and White Clay Pot is the odd one out by clay tradition rather than by shape. Mino ware is the everyday tableware pottery of Gifu, covered on our Mino ware guide. This donabe is a plain modern take on the hot pot shape rather than a Banko-clay piece. The Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot, sold out at the moment, comes from Shigaraki ware's own district in Koka City, Shiga, which our Shigaraki ware guide covers on its own terms. The two Tojiki Tonya pots sit in between: Tojiki Tonya is a ceramics wholesaler brand rather than a single named kiln district, and our own listing for the Gray Clay Pot line says its body contains petalite, the same heat-resistant mineral behind Banko ware's flame resistance, without calling the pot Banko ware outright.

Induction or direct flame: check before you buy

Exactly one of our thirteen donabe runs on an induction stove: the Saji Pottery Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot for IH. Its own listing calls that out directly, saying most donabe will not touch induction and this one does, alongside gas, direct flame and the oven. Ten listings explicitly exclude induction; their appliance directions permit gas or direct flame and an oven, and some also permit a microwave. Our donabe care guide covers why clay generally will not heat on an induction coil unless the base is built to. Two listings on our shelf, the Banko-ware Grilled Mandarin Pot and the Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot, do not state heat-source compatibility at all, so confirm with Kakumei before using either on a stove or in an oven.

If your kitchen is induction only, the IH pot above is the one option on our shelf right now. It comes in both a 2200ml size eight and a 3200ml size nine. For every pot other than the documented IH model, follow the heat-source directions on the individual listing.

How do you choose one from what we stock?

Start with what you are actually cooking. If it is rice on its own, pick a rice pot: the Tojiki Tonya Gray Clay Pot 1800ml for three cups, or the Banko-ware Clay Pot Rice Cooker Brown's 7 Cup size at 4000ml for a bigger batch, since its smaller 5 Cup size is sold out at the moment. If it is a shared hot pot, shabu-shabu or sukiyaki cooked at the table, any of the size eight or size nine patterns will do the job; pick a pattern and colour once you have settled on a size that suits the number of people you are actually feeding. If your stove is induction only, the Saji Pottery Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot for IH is the only pot on our shelf built for that. If you just want the small winter treat of a warmed mandarin, that is the Grilled Mandarin Pot rather than a cooking donabe at all.

Stock moves, and a few things are sold out on our shelf right now rather than gone for good. The Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot is out of stock in both sizes. The Banko-ware Reed Pattern Clay Pot with Compartments is out of stock in its only size. The Banko-ware Clay Pot Rice Cooker Brown's 5 Cup size, the Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot's size nine and the Saji Pottery Banko-ware Blue Tokusa Clay Pot's size eight are each sold out too, along with the Tojiki Tonya Gray Clay Pot 3000ml; the rest of what is named on this page is in stock as this page was written.

Where this fits alongside care, kilns and the rest of the table

Everything about seasoning, washing, storing and the crazing pattern on the glaze lives on our donabe care guide; read that before the first time you put a new pot on the flame. The clay behind most of what we stock is covered on our Banko ware guide, with the Mino ware guide and the Shigaraki ware guide covering the other two traditions on our shelf. A donabe rarely sits alone on the table: our bowl guide covers the rice and dipping bowls that usually sit beside it, and our table-setting story shows one way we lay a full table out at home, built from pieces we actually sell.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about choosing a donabe, answered briefly.

Is any donabe you stock safe for an induction cooktop? Yes, one. The Saji Pottery Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot for IH is built to run on induction as well as gas, direct flame and the oven; ten more listings explicitly exclude induction and confirm gas or direct flame use, and two listings, the Grilled Mandarin Pot and the Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot, do not state heat-source compatibility at all.

What does a donabe's size eight or size nine actually mean? It is a traditional Japanese sizing scale rather than a metric one; choose between size eight and size nine by each Kakumei listing's stated capacity.

Can you cook rice in a donabe, or is it only for hot pot? Both. Our Tojiki Tonya Gray Clay Pot 1800ml and Banko-ware Clay Pot Rice Cooker Brown are built specifically to cook rice, while the rest of our range is the wider hot pot shape.

Which of your donabe are currently out of stock? The Shigaraki Musashino Clay Pot is out in both sizes, and the Banko-ware Reed Pattern Clay Pot with Compartments is out in its only size; a few single sizes on other listings, such as the Ginpo Chrysanthemum Clay Pot's size nine, are sold out too while their other size stays available.

Do you stock a Banko ware donabe? Yes, several. Banko-ware, Ginpo and Saji Pottery are all Yokkaichi, Mie vendor labels working in the Banko clay tradition. Together they cover most of what we stock.