Japan’s Artful Manhole Covers

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I feel I should start out with a small confession: The desktop picture on my Mac is of a manhole cover. Yup, a sewer lid. I took it when I first moved to my new city and really like the city’s seal engraved on it. I mention this because I just discovered that manhole cover artwork—and the photographing of these seemingly utilitarian devices—is a thing. This thing even has a name: drainspotting. And while I love my city’s cover designs, they pale in comparison to those in Japan.
Manhole2
Manhole1
Japanese municipalities have elevated such a low-lying item to a high-caliber work of art. The steel canvases are so ornate, it’ll put your town’s “Water and Power” insignia to shame. The variety of art is as different as the types of utilities the covers belong to, the cities, and the specific manufacturers. Covers often include symbols that relate to the city, or may feature local landmarks or native flowers and plants. In fact, trees, flowers, and animals seem to dominate many of the designs.
Manhole5
Manhole4
Drainspotting is apparently quite the hobby, enough to warrant the need for a Japanese Society of Manhole Covers, and even a coffee table book dedicated to the subject. Flickr user S. Morita has an entire album—with over 1,000 photos—showing off the beauty and artwork of Japan’s colorful covers. The time that must have gone into crafting each masterpiece is as amazing as the art is beautiful. I guess it just goes to show that art and beauty can be found anywhere. And also that it’s not so strange that I enjoy taking pictures of manhole covers!

Erica Gamet has been involved in the graphics industry for over 35 years. She is a speaker, writer, trainer, and content creator focusing on Adobe InDesign, Apple Keynote, and varied production topics. She is a regular presenter at CreativePro Week, regular contributor to CreativePro Magazine, and has spoken at Canada’s ebookcraft, Adobe MAX, and Making Design in Oslo, Norway. Find Erica online at the CreativePro YouTube channel, CreativeLive.com and through her own YouTube channel. When she isn’t at her computer she’s probably daydreaming about travel or living in a Nordic noir landscape.

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  • bwong says:

    Hi yes I enjoy taking photos of interesting road covers in countries I travelled. Of course Japan has the most beautiful ones.
    Cheers.

  • Wink says:

    These are beautiful, and that Flickr collection is astounding! I had come across a couple of these while researching some stock photography for a public-works-related project, but I had no idea the scope of Japan’s endeavor. Thank you for giving us this reminder to take a look around!

  • Judy Schultz says:

    Absolutely stunning! But please, Erica, tell us how they are produced. Most appear to be painted. Are they manufactured that way or are they painted on-the-spot? Some covers also appear to have dark metal areas that are embossed.

    • Erica Gamet says:

      I would think (but I don’t know for sure) that they are forged and then painted. Especially when being created for an entire region or area, it would make sense to semi-mass produce them in that way. Maybe someone who has seen the actual covers could enlighten us.

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