Aida Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. In Fuchu City, Tokyo, Japan, began as a recycling business of precious metals in 1963. The founder Mr. Kazuo Aida paid special attention to the silver materials which were used as sensitizers in photographic processing, and by utilizing his chemical knowledge and experience gained over the years, started a business that extracts the silver out of used waste liquids and films collected from hospitals and photographic studios. Aida transforms the ground metals into a powder form, mixing them with a special binder and water to form products like Art Clay Silver, Art Clay Gold and Art Clay Copper.
In 1991 Aida Research and Development obtained a patent for the manufacturing process for a metal clay, which became Art Clay. In April of 1994 Art Clay Silver and Gold were officially introduced to the general public in Japan. Today, Art Clay products are being used and have distributors in 44 different countries.