The wacky, wonderful world of Japanese manhole cover art
Ever roll through some sleepy burg and notice the townsfolk have painted each fire hydrant, recycling bin or park bench as its own work of art? That's one thing... but how about a whole country? Only in Japan, where the same famously zany locals fascinated with sailor costumes and neon lights on dump trucks have done it yet again. Only this time, their attention has shifted to manhole covers. Yes, manhole covers.We don't know anything about this fad, how it began or how pervasive it is – we'd be glad to hear from you in our comment section below if you do – but from the look of the pinpointed map available at the link, it seems the craft has grown quite pervasive across the whimsical island nation. Check out a slew of our favorite examples in the gallery below, and try not to wonder how the artists didn't get run down by oncoming traffic while painstakingly completing their masterpieces.
Gallery: Japan's Manhole-Cover Art
[Source: ittemia.jp]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nick 1:15PM (7/03/2009)
cool - although I would have thought japan of all country's would be more futuristic and maybe have reinforced TV plasma screens instead!
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paul34 1:17PM (7/03/2009)
Did you post this before? I feel like I read it somewhere before, somewhere where I normally visit.
Anyway, looking at this topic allowed me to stumbled across some Microsoft interview questions, where apparently they ask such questions as "why are manhole covers round?" and other nonstandard, but challenging questions that don't necessarily have just a single correct answer.
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nick 1:28PM (7/03/2009)
loads of reasons, i was told there was 6 when asked this question but i can only remember/think of 4:
> cant fall down the hole - square ones can
> easier to handle - can be rolled along the street
> use less materials (area)
> if you dropped it on your foot, it can't stab you as there's no corners
Rocketboy 4:46PM (7/03/2009)
The best answer, because manholes are round.
Duh.
If manholes were not round, there would be no other reason to make them round that would trump a mis-match.
paul34 2:37PM (7/04/2009)
I've always gone with the "can't fall in the hole" reason myself, but all the other reasons are perfectly valid as well.
click_playaz 1:19PM (7/03/2009)
Wow, that's amazing. Land of art.
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J 1:34PM (7/03/2009)
I have noticed this, but I wouldn't say it is really prevalent, just in some of the nicer residential areas, and a lot in Tokyo.
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Scooter 11:09AM (7/04/2009)
Indeed. Most of them are regular grid or diamond-patterned manhole covers not unlike the ones we have here in the US or many other countries.
marzbite 2:46PM (7/03/2009)
this is so nice! kwl!
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tankd0g 3:23PM (7/03/2009)
Normally I wouldn't click on anything with "Japanese manhole" in the title, but this was pretty cool.
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cm 3:42PM (7/03/2009)
To go with this:
http://abduzeedo.com/amazing-gutter-art
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Rocketboy 4:48PM (7/03/2009)
At one time, we had fancy manhole covers too, but alas, it was cheaper and easier to make standard looking ones. Sigh. If you ask me, it's a pride thing. Tokyo was one of the cleanest cities I've ever been to. Heck, I saw people cleaning outdoor train depots just miles away from the center of a tsunami.
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Todd 11:30AM (7/04/2009)
I don't know about other parts in Japan but in my town the pictures on the manhole covers for the most part represent a certain towns symbol. Every town usually has one symbol/image and they can be very different from town to town.
There's also a Yamaha factory close by and in front of that building the manhole covers have musical instruments/notes on them.
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Streetrally 6:41AM (7/05/2009)
I agree with Todd. I live in the boonies out here but my town has em too.
Most of them seem to be really colorful pictures of cultural aspects of the town: food, events, plants, etc.
The sidewalks here also have painted tiles of similar motifs. Pretty neat stuff, really.
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bevjosh 9:36AM (8/20/2009)
Does anyone know what paint they use?
Bev
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bevjosh 3:24AM (8/21/2009)
Does anyone know what paint they use for this manhole cover art?
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Grate Artist 9:54PM (9/06/2009)
Japanese manhole covers fascinate me.
In fact I hope to go to Japan to photograph
some of them and do rubbings also.
You see my art theme is based on
manhole covers and water covers.
"Grate Wishes!
from "The Grate Artist"
www.grateworks.com
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