I spent a lot of time looking down when I went to Japan last April.  Not because I was afraid of tripping or falling but because I wanted to be sure to see the manhole covers.  They are everywhere in the Land of the Rising Sun.

According to a lovely little book about Japan called Be More Japan the art of Japanese living,  manhole covers were “originally designed to make taxpayers more amenable to paying for costly drainage projects. Now Japan’s decorated manhole covers have become a source of local pride, highlighting regional attractions, wild life, festivals, historic events and even folklore.

There are 19,000 different cover designs in Japan. Wow.  Can you believe that?

Interestingly there is an app that locates all of them.  It’s called Manhoo!

There was also a Manhole Cover Festival in Tokyo in 2019.

The following are some of the covers I captured on trips (2019 and 2023) to Japan.

The book is published by DK Eyewitness.

Here’s a link to information about the Tokyo Manhole Festival in 2019

I downloaded the app called Manhoo!  and it is, surprise, in Japanese.

If you are enjoying the Japan blog posts, you might be interested in knowing that I am doing a presentation at Aquinas College, Lifelong Learning program on November 30.

Registration for the Fall 2 opens on October 9.

Osher Lifelong Learning at Aquinas College link.