Tanaka Tatsuya Transforms The Mundane Into The Magical

Published September 13, 2014
Updated February 1, 2018

Tanaka Tatsuya's work -- taking every day objects and turning them into playful scenes -- proves that imagination doesn't have to die when your youth does.

Tanaka Tatsuya approaches each day with a challenge in mind: to see mundane items in a new way. Maybe that broccoli is actually a mystical forest, or that discarded water bottle a submarine. This ever-evolving view of everyday objects has become a daily labor of love for over three years.

Since then, Tanaka Tatsuya has created miniature dioramas out of food, trinkets, and other everyday items and posted them to his ‘Miniature Calendar’ online project. When asked about the inspiration for such a project, Tatsuya responded; “Everyone must have had similar thoughts at least once.”

Tanaka Tatsuya has maintained the level of imagination and love of play that most of us lose as we venture into adulthood. His miniature dioramas let us steal a glimpse at what we have left behind:

author
Erin Kelly
author
An All That's Interesting writer since 2013, Erin Kelly focuses on historic places, natural wonders, environmental issues, and the world of science. Her work has also been featured in Smithsonian and she's designed several book covers as a graphic artist.
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
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Kelly, Erin. "Tanaka Tatsuya Transforms The Mundane Into The Magical." AllThatsInteresting.com, September 13, 2014, https://allthatsinteresting.com/tanaka-tatsuya. Accessed September 14, 2025.