Thursday, May 11, 2017

Artful Japanese Manhole Covers












These gorgeous manhole covers proves that art really has no boundaries. In 1980, Japan started to modernize sewage infrastructure and the cities were presented with an opportunity to decorate manholes. The manhole covers can display anything from municipal symbols, local landscapes, abstract patterns, and illustrations of birds and owls. Today there are about 6000 artistic manhole covers throughout Japan.

Taking pictures and documenting these colorful manhole covers has become a pass-time for locals and travelers so much so that photographer Remo Camerota has published an award-winning book titled Drainspotting showcasing the highly decorative manhole covers. There is this group on Flickr where you can see over 4000 photos of manhole covers from Japan.

1 comments :

Rebecca said...

I hadn't known how colorful some are, but was aware of the manhole covers. Several years ago, an art quilt group made quilts from the covers; enough to make at least one traveling exhibit, and a book.