I like travelling in Japan. Japan is a county of extremes, and whatever you like – tradition or technology, urban sprawl or wild nature, megalomania or sobriety – the country will have something to offer you. You are advised to keep your head up high and your eyes open; you would not want to miss anything.
People who know me, know that the first thing I do when I go to an unvisited place is to keep my eyes fixed on the road though. It is only there that you can find a phenomenon that has been gaining in popularity recently: the highly original manhole covers of Japan.
THE ORIGINS |
While a sewer is extremely useful and necessary, it is true that it lacks a certain... um... charm. When the Japanese government decided to unify the sewer system, it was feared that there would be little support for such an expensive undertaking. As it concerns an underground system, people wouldn’t be able to see what they were paying for. So the idea rose to make the one thing that was visible to everyone’s eyes attractive.
Manhole cover of the very small town of Yamagatamura in Nagano Prefecture.
Combining famous things: the waterfall and yuzu of Mino City in Osaka Prefecture.
WHAT'S SO INTERESTING ABOUT SEWER COVERS? |
Every city or town would be able to create their own manhole cover design; some municipalities chose for anime characters, others opted for famous landmarks or festivals held in their city or town, and most looked at nature for inspiration, like the local flowers, birds and trees.
In most cases, the most beautiful manhole covers are the ones that have bright colors, however most just show the design without any coloration. Don't be fooled though, these can be just as pretty as the colored versions.
POPULARITY |
It is only recently that the manhole covers gained significantly in popularity with the local population. Yes, in my immediate vicinity none of the Japanese were aware of the beauty of their manhole covers. Before I pointed it out to them they did not know. And although they consider me now as the crazy-manhole-searching-foreigner, they now do check out the streets and send me their findings via mail.
Of course my interest in the manhole covers didn’t spark the recent rise in popularity. It’s the annual manhole summits that are held all over the country since 2014 and which are also reported by the media, and the game cards that were issued for the first time in April 2016.
I have put some of my personal pictures in this message, but if you’re really interested you could check out the website of Japan Society of Manhole Covers. It looks extremely outdated, but they upload new covers regularly and their database is huge.
http://usagigasi1f2.starfree.jp/
My personal database can be found here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zYFYtsgvmisZUsMd7
Two notes though:
1/ You might not be able to find interesting manhole covers in some cities. For example Tokyo and Kanazawa had their sewer systems in place before the reforms, so most manhole covers will be very plain.
2/ Interesting manhole covers can be found all over the world: I have discovered them for example also in Bruges, Copenhagen and Taipei.
The manhole of cover of Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture boasts the famous Koshien Stadium.
Beppu in Oita Prefecture has 12 different manholes, each for every month and its blooming flowers.
The Matsumoto mahole covers don't show the famous castle, but the locally made temari balls.
This is only one of the several manhole designs that are strewn across the streets in Hakodate.
Yamato-Koriyama in Nara Prefecture is famous for the cultivation of goldfish and proudly shows it.
Hakuba ski resort in Nagano Prefecture is proud of its location in the Northern Alps.
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