Custom manhole cover at the Grand Shrine at Ise.

Drainspotting — Custom Manhole Covers in Japan

Manhole Covers

A modern society requires infrastructure — water, electricity, liquid waste disposal, data both analog and digital — and these are generally by pipes and wires and optical fibres run through underground conduits.

Manhole covers provide maintenance access to these essential arteries. At the very least they should be round to ensure they can't fall into the hole.

In Japan the manufacturers soon realized that manhole covers should be tapered, so they don't bang and rattle when a vehicle drives over it.

It's vital for a manhole cover to have a textured pattern or design. In wet weather, a smooth steel manhole cover would be extremely hazardous for pedestrians and two-wheeled vehicles such as bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles. There should be lines in multiple directions to prevent slips.

So — why not give them interesting designs? Below is a manhole cover in Ueno park in Tōkyō showing a tree with cherry blossoms.

Custom manhole cover in Ueno park in Tōkyō.

Custom manhole cover in Ueno park in Tōkyō showing blossoming cherry trees.

Custom Covers Appear


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Some of Japan's larger cities had developed their own original cover designs by the late 1950s. There was the "Tōkyō design" and the "Nagoya design", developed within those cities and used elsewhere.

In the early to mid 1980s, only 60% of Japanese households were connected to municipal sewer systems. The construction ministry was trying to build up public support for the expensive public projects of expanding sewer systems.

Yasutake Kameda was a high-ranking bureaucrat of the construction ministry. He came up with the idea of locally customized manhole covers, popularizing the subterranean and under-appreciated infrastructure.

The Japan Ground Manhole Association, a Tōkyō-based alliance of 32 companies making manhole covers, reports that Yasutake's original idea has led to nearly 95% of the 1,780 municipalities in Japan now having their own custom manhole cover designs. Trees, flowers, animals, and local sites of natural beauty and touristic interest dominate.

Asakusa District in Tōkyō

Visiting Asakusa and Sensō-ji

Asakusa is a district within Taito Ward of Tōkyō. Asakusa is home to the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple, the second most visited religious site in the world. The manhole covers there have the classic "Tōkyō design".

These feature two trees common in Japan. First, the larger part with five petals is the sakura or the somei yoshino cherry blossom.

The second tree is the ginkgo biloba with its triangular or fan-shaped leaves spaced between the cherry blossom petals. The ginkgo is very similar to fossils from the Middle Jurassic period approximately 170 million years ago.

Then, around the exterior are 13 vaguely shown birds. These represent the black-headed gull, a favorite subject or poetry and painting in Tōkyō. There are 13 in this one, the center one is replaced on the lid in the second picture by "T-25" indicating the standard 600 mm diameter,

The "Tōkyō design" with the cherry blossom first appeared in the 1950s, and they were installed throughout Japan.

Custom manhole cover in Asakusa district in Tōkyō.
Custom manhole cover in Asakusa district in Tōkyō.

The second one, in the Kappabashi district just west of the Sensō-ji temple complex, is slightly newer. These newer covers have a central strip with four octagons with alphanumeric codes. This 4-octagon code system began with a manhole-lid-laying ceremony on March 28, 2001. This one says:
35 7G 61 27

The octagons are colored, although the paint has mostly faded on this one. The first one is still faintly yellow, indicating that it covers a sewage line. Blue indicates a rainwater drain. The first digit, 35 here, is the number of this cover on this line through this ward.

Custom manhole cover in Asakusa district in Tōkyō.

The second and third octagons, 7G and 61 on this one, are originally painted green and indicate a unique code in the control chart. There are about 470,000 manhole lids in the 23 wards of Tōkyō, four alphanumeric characters could enumerate:
36 × 36 × 36 × 36 = 1,679,616
possible lids. Someone has attempted to make a manhole lid database in which you could look up code numbers and find location and other information.

The fourth octagon, reading 27 here, indicates the year the pipe was installed, painted yellow for the 1900s and blue for the 2000s.
35 7G 61 27

Asakusa and the March 1945 fire bombing raids

Yellow and 27 means that this pipe was laid in 1927!

Tōkyō was devastated by the incendiary bombing raids of 1945, especially Operation Meetinghouse, a raid on the night of 9-10 March, 1945. About 16 square miles of the city was destroyed; about 100,000 people were killed, a million injured, and a million left homeless. It was the single deadliest air raid of World War II, larger than the incendiary raids on Dresden and Hamburg, larger than the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Almost everything above ground in the Asakusa district was destroyed, but this underground pipe survived and was put back into use. It is still used today.

Here's a rather plain cover near the Imperial Palace.
06 21 2H 10
A waste line installed in 2010.

Manhole cover near the Imperial Palace.

The poster below is at the Bureau of Sewerage headquarters in Tōkyō, along the Sumida river between Asakusa and Akihabara.

Sign depicting a custom manhole cover at the Bureau of Sewerage headquarters in Tōkyō.

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ASIN: B08GVGMS66

Ise

Visiting
Ise

Ise is home to Shintō's most sacred shrine. Japan's earliest "histories", which are really collections of myths and legends, describe how early deities created Japan and the rest of the universe. The universe was created here, and the deities live here. Or so the stories go.

Of course everyone wants to see the Outer Shrine, near the center of town, and the Inner Shrine. The manhole covers in Ise commemorate the many visitors.

Custom manhole cover in Ise.

Kaikū, the main shrine at the Inner Shrine complex, is believed to be inhabited by Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. The shrine is believed to house the Yata no Kagami, a mirror that is the most precious of the Three Sacred Treasures, the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Elite priests present the three sacred objects to the new Emperor during the enthronement ceremony. This confirms the Emperor's status as a descendant of Amaterasu and his legitimacy as ultimate ruler of Japan.

Katakana &
Hiragana

This manhole cover at the Inner Shrine complex has been painted. The hiragana at the bottom says:
おすい
o-su-i
sewer

Custom manhole cover at the Grand Shrine near Ise.

Meoto Iwa

Visiting
Meoto Iwa

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Meoto Iwa it close to Ise. It's known as the "Married Couple Rocks". They're a pair of small rocky stacks along the coast just east of Ise. They're joined by a heavy rice straw rope, which is replaced several times a year in special ceremonies.

The rocks represent Izanagi and Izanami, the creator deities of Shintō cosmology. Brother and sister and also husband and wife, they gave birth to the islands of Japan and to many of Shintō's deities or spirits, the kami in Japanese.

From them came Ameterasu, the sun goddess, ancestor of Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan.

The manhole covers at Meoto Iwa show the two rocks and the sacred rope, with the sun rising in the background, and blossoms and leaves all around.

Custom manhole cover at Meoto Iwa near Ise.

The words at the bottom aren't profound:
ふたみ   おすい
fu-ta-mi o-su-i
Futami Sewer


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ASIN: B086YHKSJX

Kyōto

Visiting
Kyōto

Kyōto was the imperial capital for centuries. I can't decide if this is meant to be decorative, or if it's simply how they make cast-iron manhole covers.

Custom manhole cover in Kyōto.

Osaka

Visiting
Osaka

Osaka is famous for its enormous castle, which is depicted along with cherry blossoms on this custom manhole cover.

Custom manhole cover in Osaka showing the castle.
Custom manhole cover in Osaka showing the castle and shipping.

An alternative Osaka design features shipping along with the castle.

Osaka Sewerage Science Museum

Osaka has a Sewerage Science Museum with its own line of custom manhole covers.

Or at least Osawa used to have such a museum. It had closed shortly before my visit.

Custom manhole cover at the Sewerage Science Museum in Osaka.

Kobe

The port of Kobe welcomes English-speaking visitors.

Custom manhole cover in Kobe reading 'Welcome to KOBE!' and 'KOBE OSUI'.

Takamatsu

Visiting
Takamatsu
and Yashima

Takamatsu is on the island of Shikoku, the fourth-largest island of the Japanese archipelago, some 225 km long and 50 to 150 km wide.

The manhole covers in Takamatsu show Nasu No Yoichi, a Minamoto samurai in the nearby battle of Yashima in 1185. He had pursued Taira fighters on horseback. They were slipping away on a ship, and were waving a fan on a stick to taunt him. He shot a perfectly aimed arrow that pierced the fan. The punctured fan washed ashore on a small island a few days later, the island was named Ogi-jima or Fan Island to commemorate the event.

Custom manhole cover in Takamatsu.

The hiragana reads:
たかまつ   げすい
ta-ka-ma-tsu ge-su-i

Custom manhole cover in Takamatsu.

Fire hydrants go under distinctive covers. Here is Takamatsu's.

Fire hydrant cover in Takamatsu.

Naoshima

Visiting
Naoshima

Naoshima is an art-focused island in the Inland Sea, a short ferry ride north from Takamatsu. Here is their custom manhole cover design.

Custom manhole cover in Naoshima.

The hiragana label at bottom says:
なおしま
na-o-shi-ma

Hiroshima

Visiting
Hiroshima

Hiroshima has a boldly colored custom design.

Custom manhole cover in Hiroshima.
Visiting
Itsukushima

The nearby Itsukushima shrine has cherry blossoms on the covers of its small valve covers.

Custom manhole cover at Itsukushima shrine near Hiroshima.

Fukuoka

Visiting
Fukuoka

Fukuoka is on Kyūshū, the southwesternmost of Japan's four large Home Islands. It's just across the strait from the southwestern end of Honshū, the largest island.

Some of Fukuoka's custom covers are pretty standard, more blossoms.

Custom manhole cover in Fukuoka.

Others are more abstract.

Custom manhole cover in Fukuoka.

Nagasaki

Visiting
Nagasaki

The custom covers in Nagasaki are pretty standard — three blossoms with leaves.

Custom manhole cover in Nagasaki.
Custom manhole cover in Nagasaki.

Some Are Plain But Well Made

Two friends of mine had insisted that I needed to look for custom manhole covers. OK, I'll keep an eye out.

The thing is, I didn't see any interesting ones at all early in the trip. I had gotten as far as Kyōto and I was still seeing nothing but sturdy and fairly standard looking manhole covers.

Like this one. "Hokusei", it says, not Hokusai the famous print artist.

Standardized manhole cover in Kyōto, reading 'MPS 600 HOKUSEI' and 'FC-200'.

Here's a cover for NTT, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. There will be data and signal lines under this one.

Standardized NTT manhole cover in Kyōto.
Standardized manhole cover in Kyōto.

The above manhole cover and the below valve or meter cover seem to be the same network or company.

Standardized valve or meter access cover in Kyōto.
Custom manhole cover in Ueno park in Tōkyō, reading 'HAYAKAWA FOUNDRY' and 'MB B450 500Kg.

Not Just Japan

Cities in other countries do customized manhole covers. Here are two in West Lafayette where I live.

Custom manhole cover in West Lafayette, Indiana.

I don't even have to cross a street to find this one, it's on the block where I live.

Custom manhole cover in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The above is specific to travel logistics. Maybe you're looking for information on specific places in Japan.

Prehistoric Yamato
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Fodors Japan
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Background and Logistics
Kantō region — Tōkyō and nearby
Kansai region, central Honshū — Kyōto, Nara, Kōya-san, Ise, and Ōsaka
Tōhoku region, northern Honshū — Nikkō, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Mount Bandai, Yamadera, Mount Haguro
Inland Sea — Takamatsu, Naoshima and the art islands, Hiroshima
Kyūshū — Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Sakurajima, Oita, Mount Aso

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