Norihiro Kato is an ordinary businessman by day, but when he’s not at the office, he creates incredible lamp aquariums as a hobby.

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Source: YouTube

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Source: YouTube

None are currently for sale, but they are gaining popularity in Japan for the sheer artistry and effort that goes into creating one of these mesmerizing lamps.

Kato calls his creations “Kato Aquarium,” and uses old Hurricane Lanterns as the foundation for his work. Pulling two pipes through both sides of the lantern, he is able to make oxygen and CO2 circulate through the lanterns, thus making a one-of-a-kind lamp aquarium.

The lanterns are shone with an LED light, giving off an ethereal effect when hung in a dark room. With all the tiny fish inside weaving in and out of the aquarium plants, you’ll not only be able to appreciate the creativity of the aquarium itself, but the ecology of the lifeforms within it.

Although perfectly mimicking the craft of these lamp aquariums will be difficult to do, Kato does elaborate a little bit on his blog and Twitter on how he makes them, so it could be worth a try (so long as no fish are harmed in the process).

So far, all Kato has revealed is that he first cuts the bottom of the lantern out, makes the parts to support the pipes out of acrylic resin, and gets two pipes for oxygen and CO2. The lantern is made waterproof, resealed with wooden slat boards, and decked with some new LED lights.

If you can fill that in with the unrevealed detailed processes in-between, you might soon have yourself your very own lamp aquarium!


By - grape Japan editorial staff.