Gendai  現代  or Current time, 1945-present

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The Second World War and its aftermath were a turning point in Japan's history in all respects. The country was occupied from 1945 to 1952 by an Allied force led by the United States with the main goal of a complete demilitarization and democratization of Japan and a thorough transformation in its socioeconomic structure. Large land holdings were split up and redistributed to tenant farmers, with the goal of a fairer distribution of land ownership. Labor reforms and the establishment of labor unions greatly improved the rights and conditions of workers. Strong emphasis was also placed on education and the development of an educated and skilled workforce, which became a major asset to the country's economic success.

Through all this, Japan experienced a period of rapid modernization of society with unprecedented social, cultural and artistic dynamics and strong influence from the West. This transformation also had a great impact on the ceramic arts and industry. Many traditional pottery centers were revived and potters experimented with new techniques and forms. In part, the influence of the pre- War Mingei movement continued to assert itself, inspiring artists to combine traditional methods with contemporary aesthetics. The influence of figures such as Hamada Shoji and collaboration with Western potters such as Bernard Leach contributed to the worldwide appreciation of Japanese ceramics. Japanese artists began to participate in international exhibitions, promoting cross-cultural exchange.

But new movements also emerged, such as Shikokai (founded in 1947) and Sodeisha (founded in 1948), which opposed Mingei's principles that held that beauty is found in ordinary and user-friendly everyday objects made by nameless and unknown artisans, as opposed to higher art forms made by artists with names. Shikōkai (四耕会 - 4 shift movement) was the first avant-garde group of ceramic artists, and was founded in Kyoto by Yasuo Hayashi and others. It was an important precursor to the slightly later avant-garde ceramic group Sodeisha.

Both the Shikokai and Sodeisha movements explored new forms for ceramics and took the medium into truly innovative sculptural directions and abstract expressions in clay, away from functional pottery. Their work was characterized by biomorphic and geometric forms, and Western artists such as Klee, Miro and Picasso were strong sources of inspiration and influenced members of both groups.

Both movements played a crucial role in shaping a wave of avant-garde and contemporary approaches in the 1950s and beyond. The initiators and members of Shikokai and Sodeisha became teachers at institutions and universities and passed on their philosophy and practices to the younger generations. Western movements and influences from Pop-Art (Mishima Kimiyo)  or the drip painting of Jackson Pollock (Junpei Hiraoka) can also be found in the work of Japanese ceramists of the time. .Artists experimented with new materials, firing techniques and conceptual ideas, pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally considered pottery. Some artists incorporated elements of performance art and installation into their ceramic works, and technological advances also influenced the field of ceramics. Artists such as Yuki Nara began integrating digital technology into their creative processes, from designing forms to firing kilns, beginning in the 1980s. This integration of technology provided greater precision and expanded possibilities in ceramic art. Other artists ( Akiyama Yō, Kazunori Hamana) take inspiration from traditional regional styles such as Bizen, Shigaraki and Mashiko, but do so in ways far removed from traditional functionality, or producing works of a scale that can only be exhibited in more grand spaces (Jun Nishida).

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Also playing an interesting role was the emergence of women ceramists in the originally male-dominated field of ceramics. After the war, higher education was open to a wider population and the social status of women also increased. Many women entered universities to pursue ceramic arts and were no longer dependent on the male-dominated apprenticeship system in which they were only allowed to engage in marginal tasks in the production process. Koike Shōko (b. 1943) was the first female student to take the ceramics course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in the late 1960s, but many would follow her.  Female ceramic artists have made important contributions through new approaches to the development of ceramic art. Nakaigawa Yuki (1960), for instance, who began her artistic career in the 1980s, and has become known for her large-scale installation works. Since then, many of the first generation female ceramists have also joined the University Ceramics Schools as teachers and were able to transmit their ideas and practices to the next generations of artists.

It is impossible to give a complete overview of the wide variety of styles, views and techniques of contemporary ceramics in Japan. There was a very dynamic evolution in the period after 1945, and sometimes even a veritable explosion of creativity, with new forms, materials and ideas. The blending of tradition and innovation, and the choices made therein, continues to characterize the rich and diverse landscape of contemporary Japanese ceramic art. But in addition to traditional, functional ceramics, a movement that will always exist, there is also that other movement, emerging from Sodeisha, of ceramics as an art object in its own right, which has now gained plenty of recognition both within Japan and internationally.