Tweet of the Week #44: Catzilla strikes!

If you think diorama means boring miniature replica, time to think again! In Japan, the hobby of crafting tiny worlds in loving detail has reached a whole other level thanks to some crazy talented artists.

We can’t speak about diorama in Japan without mentioning two of the most famous Japanese artists of the genre: Satoshi Araki and Tanaka Tatsuya.

Satoshi Araki’s attention to detail in his work is more than staggering. Famous for his 超（ちょう）リアルなジオラマ, “super real diorama”, he even writes books about how to build realistic miniatures.

【 ビートルよ永遠に】
フォルクスワーゲン『ビートル』の生産終了ニュース。
永遠に残るものだと思っていたが・・・残念。https://t.co/lBZlF3Mw9y pic.twitter.com/Ag9mDxd93w

— 情景師アラーキー/荒木さとし (@arakichi1969) July 11, 2019

With an entirely different style, Tanaka Tatsuya lets his imagination run wild and creates amazing and fun diorama.

川の勢いに“めん”食らう
#そうめん #川 #かやくがカヤック #Somen #River #このあとおいしくいただきました pic.twitter.com/qDXkxbLfy0

— Tatsuya Tanaka 田中達也 (@tanaka_tatsuya) July 28, 2019

Want to try it for yourself? Many souvenir shops in Japan sell miniature handmade diorama kits that are perfect to give this hobby a go!

Cat VS Diorama

Our furry companions have basically zero respect for our personal space and stuff. Forget about leaving your keys on the counter or pens on your table, they’ll soon obey gravity and fall to the ground with a little help from kitty’s paw.

In the diorama-loving community, cats are the ultimate enemy. The ネコジラ (Catzilla) leaves a trail of chaos and destruction in its wake in a punny reference to the world-famous monster, Godzilla.

Railway and diorama enthusiast @vM8nGn1T21sJLyD shared this cinematic scene of the dramatic moment their cat reigned feline hellfire on a miniature Tokyo.

その後 pic.twitter.com/lIItcZoFug

— 鉄道猫 (@vM8nGn1T21sJLyD) August 3, 2019

やめれーーーーー！= Stoooooooop!

…

その後（ご） = After

Twitter user @Iwakyu_k was quick to respond with their own recent diorama destruction.

街並みは遠く及びませんが。
我が家のジオラマでも同様の被害が出た事が御座います(^^;; pic.twitter.com/TR1HwC7HCn

— いわての鉄ヲタ(歌う国鉄厨) (@Iwakyu_k) August 2, 2019

街並（まちな）みは遠（とお）く及（およ）びませんが。

我（わ）が家（や）のジオラマでも同様（どうよう）の被害（ひがい）が出（で）た事（こと）が御座（ござ）います(^^;; 

= My diorama is not as good as his but… (^^ ;;

One Twitter user was inspired to create a series of real-life imaginings of Catzilla wreaking havoc in various cat-like ways.

ネコジラ pic.twitter.com/7jqdRWYmAm

— ‘吟遊詩人’のシン²・『ア～ク』・メルトダウンタウンエデンの使徒きのこりあんの方 (@zodos666) August 3, 2019

ネコジラ = Catzilla

How to describe the after(math) of something in Japanese

その後（ご） or その後（あと） is pretty straightforward and can be translated as “after that,” “afterward” or “thereafter.”

その後すぐに寝（ね）ました。= I fell asleep right away after that.

Depending on the context, the phrase can also mean “and then” with the nuance of a logical consequence between what happened and what follows.

In this sense, その後 is a synonym for それで a phrase you’ll use to stress the reasons for a particular situation.

それで, どうなったんだ？= And then, what happened?

Vocabulary

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