Wada (1944 -2008) was strongly influenced during his formative years by the veteran ceramic specialist Tomimoto Kenkichi, whose compositions connect William Morris design with historical East Asian ceramics and by Kamoda Shōji (1933–1983), an individualist genius, who combined rough clay with bold designs in matte glazes.

Wada developed a distinctive modern style that incorporated sculptural form and abstract surface patterning. The interplay between these two elements has given his work great visual depth and enduring appeal.

Tomimoto would extoll the beauty of nature to form his patterns and under Wada nature would be visualised as abstract elements to give bold and thoughtful patterns of the natural world.

He used natural materials as much as possible, including different forms of clay, sand, and slip which provided the basis for his compositions. These vessels he inlaid with white slip patterning, allowing the colorful clay to show through the inlaid lines to provide his intricate and abstract style of patterning.

Wada’s work can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum NYC; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Minneapolis Institute of Art; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Faenza International Museum of Ceramics, Italy; Musée National de Céramique, Sèvres, France; Musée National de la Porcelaine Adrien-Dubouché, Limoges, France; Musée Tomo, Tokyo; Kure Municipal Museum of Art, Hiroshima; Ogawa Museum of Art, Tokyo; Ibaraki Museum of Modern Art; Tokyo National Museum of Art.