explore the intricate miniature worlds of japanese artist tatsuya tanaka

the intricate, tiny worlds of japanese miniature and mitate artist tatsuya tanaka are going on display in museums across japan. 2021 marks the 10-year anniversary of tanaka’s ‘miniature calendar’, where every day he shares a playful recreation of everyday life scenes. in his pieces, the artist combines common household objects, such as rolls of toilet paper, sugar cubes, fruit and vegetables, with miniature figurines he has collected over the years.all images and video © tatsuya tanaka

every day since 2011, tatsuya tanaka has been creating playful miniature landscapes that he puts together using commonplace objects and diorama figurines. he then photographs the pocket-size scenes and shares one per day on his miniature calendar. upon the 10-year anniversary of the project, hundreds of pieces are being exhibited in museums across japan under the common title ‘miniature life’. selected artworks are currently on view in exhibitions at the mizuno museum in nagano until may 30, in kochi until may 9, while more are opening soon, such as one at oita art museum, which opens tomorrow, april 16. discover more locations and dates here.

born in japan’s kumamoto prefecture in 1981, tatsuya tanaka now lives and works in kagoshima. in april of 2011 he started to publish his miniature works on instagram, where he now has almost 3M fans.

‘the idea came from a comment on instagram, in which a follower wrote, “I want to see the miniature calendar everyday.” so, while I answered by posting something daily, the thought of the project was too good for me to quit,’ tanaka told designboom in an exclusive interview in 2015. ‘I find a lot of joy in continuing to make the miniature calendar, I haven’t thought about stopping anymore.  in the early days, I created these scenes for the purposes of photographing my collection of diorama dolls, but after a while I found it interesting to express “likening one thing to another”; and now I have found my style at present.’

project info:

name: miniature calendar
artist: tatsuya tanaka