Following these developments, the production of huge ceramic works and installations became a conspicuous trend in Japan by the late 1980s. Neither their creators nor the critics felt that the conventional term for work in clay, togei, quite fit; instead, they borrowed the English term ‘clay work’. While the literal meaning could cover all possible work in clay, in Japan it was applied only to large-scale, three-dimensional pieces and installations in clay. Works that used clay as an expressive medium in some way, without firing, was also designated clay work.

The Japanese Contemporary Clay Work exhibition showcases the work of Japanese ceramic artists in this field. The distinctive, individualistic works in this exhibition are both essentially contemporary as well as reflective of age-old Japanese sensibilities.