In Japan, they have manhole covers as street art. This one was photographed one evening on the way to dinner at Amataro, when our Tokyo friends pointed down to our feet and yelled out, “Manhoru no Futa!” (manhole cover)
We learnt that they come in a variety of designs and colours, depicting localities, utility type and manufacturers. The colour is surprisingly not from paint but a tree resin that gets poured into the grooves that makes up the cover.
Tokyo manhole cover
In Australia, at least in Sydney, we don’t have such colourful and intricate street art. Instead, we improvise. This one was photographed at the beachside suburb of Coogee on a rainy day when I pointed to the ground and yelled out, “Superman!”
One can’t help but admire the person behind the art and the use of all three primary colours.
Coogee Beach (Australia) manhole cover
We love the manhole covers in Japan. We took a lot of pictures of the different varieties!
Cool, aren’t they. One could dedicate a website to the various designs. You must have quite a collection!
aaaaaw! i didnt noticed them when i was in japan 🙁
Something for next time, perhaps 🙂
I like this crocodile one from Osaka
That’s a cool manhole cover. I like how the croc is smiling!