According to the book Drainspotting (a book that documents Japan’s manhole covers), when foreign engineers introduced modern, underground sewer systems to the Japanese, the design of manhole covers were geometric-based similar to the manhole covers we know. But in the 1980s when Japan was about to deploy the sewer systems outside of the major cities, the projects were met with resistance. Someone suggested the idea of customized manhole covers where communities can reflect their cultural identity, landmarks, local festivals, flowers, symbols, etc. on the manhole cover design and the idea clicked!
What even more interesting is there’s now a growing online community that’s into the manhoru mania. These people take photos and share details about the locations and designs of various manhole covers around Japan.
Here are some of the manhole covers I was able to take photos of during my recent trip to Japan. I can’t remember though in which locations I spotted them. All I remember is that two of them, I snapped while crossing the street! Haha…
