MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS
These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.
Other great stories
TIME TRAVELLING PHONE APP
OFFERING a glimpse into the past, a mash-up of old and new photographs show how the world’s biggest cities have changed .
WINKING SQUIRREL
BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .
WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER BREAKING TOILET SEAT
A 23st woman who was left humiliated after breaking a TOILET SEAT has lost an incredible 11st .
DAUGHTER KILLED HERSELF AFTER BEING RAPED – BUT SAVED FOUR PEOPLES' LIVES THROUGH ORGAN DONATION
A woman whose daughter committed suicide after being raped as a child, has revealed she donated her organs - saving four peoples’ lives .
TRANS WOMAN'S £100K TRANSFORMATION FUNDED BY ONLINE FANS
A transgender woman has revealed how she was able to fund her transformation using £100K gifted to her by online admirers .
THE POP-UP HOTEL RETURNS TO GLASTONBURY
GLAMPING is taken to a whole new level in the form of the luxurious Pop-Up Hotel .
I LOST 12 STONE…AND MY VIRGINITY!
A former food addict who had spent her whole life dreaming of romance shed an astonishing 12st 7lbs to experience love for the first time .
OPEN WIDE! MONKEY GIVES FRIEND AN UNEXPECTED DENTAL CHECK-UP
This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .
CROHN’S SUFFERER HAS HUMILIATING ACCIDENT AFTER CO-OP STAFF REFUSE TOILET ENTRY
A Crohn's sufferer has told of her humiliation after she soiled herself when a Co-op staff member reportedly refused to let her use the toilet .
100K BARONESS THATCHER COLLECTION
WELCOME to the drawing room that is home to the £100K world’s greatest collection of Margaret Thatcher autographed objects .
EYE-OPENING INSIGHT INTO KENYA’S LARGEST DUMPING GROUND
PILES of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya .
BEETLES DOOR
COULD this £5,000 auction of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool front door be the most bizarre celebrity sale yet? The door, which looks-like it may have been knocked – and possibly kicked – very hard during its past, was used by members of Britain’s most famous band to visit lead-singer Paul McCartney when he lived at the address from 1955 to 1964 .