Japan

It's So Much More Than a Cover

Transportation

21 Nov 2016 • 3 min read

Start you off with the ugly one, build from there.

First time we came to Japan, Small Paw was learning to walk and would pause to admire drain covers. In some spots they would be colored in bright colors, so what child wouldn't want to take a closer look. Turns out each district is responsible for their own manhole covers, and hence a number of designs evolved for each city. Through the years they have upped the game and started including color for the more pedestrian roads. We casually started photographing them and even continued to do so outside of Japan when we saw a nice one; it was away to remember parts of our trip. Like a colorful pictogram of what the residents of the city think their city is. Impressively Germany had some very intricate designs, but nobody beats the Japanese. So here is a small part of the collection for a quick tour of the floors of Japan. Small because they are manhole covers after all, don't want to bore you too much. And also apparently "manhole" is not a filter that is searchable in the new Photos app. So some of those pictures went down the drain.

Two tourist attractions in a single design, the star fort and the governor's house.

Pass me the colors, I am coloring a mandala.

The fireman in Japan get to dress like Samurai, but in blue. Remind me of Where is Wally, blue monks fighting the flames.

I have not a clue what this thing is, looks like a guy hiding behind shields.

Less Lazy: make it white, but add some clip art.

A giant bird eating smaller birds or actually giving them a stern talking.

This is a trick one, see if you are paying attention.

Even the small pipe covers get some color and designs.

Regular fire truck, not inspired district.

Slightly more inspired: give me sideview and add color.

Add a little bit of everything, glad they didn't;t color it, it would have been overwhelming.

On this trip we found out they even have a Japanese Manhole Cover Society. Yeah it's so serious, they are hosted on Geocities. (who knew that still existed?) They also have a set of collectible cards you can enjoy at home. (Apparently launched at the manhole cover convention in Tokyo – another big "who knew"?!)