SMALL WORLD, BIG IDEAS

Behind Japanese miniature artist Tatsuya Tanaka’s tiny worlds is a big dream: to put a smile on people’s faces

By Zabrina Lo.

Japanese miniature artist Tatsuya Tanaka’s home in Kagoshima is just like any family’s, filled with ordinary, everyday objects. But while most of us consider these mundane, he sees them as the ingredients for his mitate (“look and compare pictures”, or analogues, in Japanese) art: translucent blue clothing hangers are stacked together to resemble waves; a disposable face mask mimics the lanes of a swimming pool; unfurled rolls of toilet paper are transformed into snowy ski pistes; and a rasher of bacon becomes the magic carpet for mini Aladdin and Jasmine toys. On his visit to Hong Kong before Christmas, Tanaka created 25 miniature scenes for The Big Little Christmas exhibition at Harbour City, stunning viewers with his humorous take on the city’s food and landscape. For instance, xiao long bao…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 2025

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