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
CHEEKY MONKEY KEEPS UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST NEWS
A small Indian monkey is seemingly gob-smacked after reading the latest stock market news .
FROZEN BUBBLES CREATE STUNNING ICE CRYSTALS
A soap bubble lands on the frosty ground and creates a shimmering snow globe as crystals form around it .
WORLD'S FIRST SIGN LANGUAGE RESTAURANT
A world's first restaurant has opened in Canada, where having your order fall on deaf ears is a good thing .
MOST DANGEROUS ROAD IN THE WORLD
AT 4,800 metres high and just three metres wide, this is the most dangerous road in the world .
AMAZING PEN ART
FROM THE world famous Girl with a Pearl Earring painting to a jaguar in the grass, these incredible drawings are created from coloured ballpoint pens .
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND
THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .
TRANSGENDER WOMAN SPENDS £25K TO BECOME BEAUTY QUEEN
A transgender woman has beaten the bullies after spending £25K on surgery to become a beauty pageant queen .
ADORABLE SQUIRREL TRIES HER HAND AT PHOTOGRAPHY
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
TEMPLE OF ZOOM
WELCOME to the Temple of Zoom where you can “experience” sliding down a Mayan temple into shark infested waters .
I LOST 10ST AFTER MY SON DREW ME AS A BLOB
A 20st mum-of-four who was dangerously obese has lost half her body weight after her son drew her as a BLOB at school .
I HID AWAY FOR YEARS AFTER DEVELOPING SORES ON MY FACE AND BODY - NOW I’M A DIVERSITY MODEL
A woman whose face and body was left scarred for life by angry sores, caused by Lupus, has become a diversity model .