Beautiful Manhole Covers of the World

Sigatoka, Fiji

This post is inspired by the above picture I took in  Fiji of a manhole in Sigatoka, on the Fijian mainland. If you have been following my blogs, you may recall several examples of manhole covers in Japan, which always interested me when I saw them. In fact, back then I had a comment from a German gentleman named Gerde asking if I could send him any more photos of manholes so he could include them on his website/Tumblr. I enjoyed writing the blog about Apps, so I thought a light-hearted one about man-hole covers would be fun to write as well. I'll arrange them into a Logical Order, and then identify the location and comment about them in the caption.

Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan

Yokkaichi, Japan - probably the cover that started it all... this is where I lived in 2006.

Another Yokkaichi Manhole - probably taken on the same day I took the first - my first proper day off.
Yokkaichi is a "sister-port" to Sydney Port, and a "sister-city" to Tianjin in China, hence the Koala, Panda, and the Opera house etc. The spheres in the top left I think relate to the oil distillation that goes on there, and the dome on the right is the cultural centre - which was closed the day I went to have a look at it...

Yet another Yokkaichi manhole - I had to Google the Hiragana at the top to confirm that.

Yokkaichi again, you can see that this has the same picture as the above cover, albeit not in colour

I assume this is a fire hydrant cover. I only know it is in Yokkaichi due to the seal - the round symbol at 2 O'clock.

Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Nagoya, Japan. I have no idea how the insect ties in.

Nagoya again. The Nagoya castle features in the centre, the harbour below it,  and the tower at the top that looks like a cross between the Eiffel tower and a power pylon is the Nagoya tower at Sakae

Nagoya-jo (castle)

Kobe, Japan

Kobe, Japan. Starting at the bottom left, that is the Kobe tower, and the top right is a steeple of a house in what was the old foreigners area,- Kitano in fact it was called the Thomas house, hence why I remember it.

Kobe again, note the symbols on the hills on the background. I assume the anchor relates to it being a port, the other is the symbol for Kobe.

The Thomas house steeple in the centre here, the Kobe tower in the top left, and the port in the top right. The steeple is flanked by the Kobe symbol, and something resembling the logo of the Imperial Forces in Star Wars - however I wouldn't put it past George Lucas to be ripping that off too, as Darth Vader's suit is suspiciously similar to that of a samurai (as are the Jedi and their protocols), and the story of Anakin Skywalker and the Empire have pretty strong parallels to the Holocaust.



Universal Studios, Osaka, Japan

Not actually in the real Beverly Hills. This is actually in Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka. I don't think the real Beverly Hills would allow a paint strip to cover it's manhole.

I haven't actually been to New York City, so obviously this is the same story - Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka.

Himeji, Japan

Himeji, Japan. Again I had to confirm this by translating the hiragana. I wonder now what the original manhole looks like, as the anti-littering message seems to be stuck on top of the original design. Himeji is home to a really awesome Japanese castle - one of the few that has survived antiquity, and namely the war, and therefore is a Unesco Heritage site.

Himeji again, the White heron is the city's bird, and I believe there may've been heron "gargoyles" on the roof of the castle.

Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan

Kuwana was the neighbouring city to Yokkaichi, on the way to Nagoya.

Not sure how the origami birds relate to Kuwana.

Iga, Mie, Japan


This is a ninja - this manhole is in Iga, "the ninja town".

Seoul, South Korea

Seoul, Korea. It seemed at the time that they were in love with the fact that at one point in time they hosted the Olympic games. It may have seemed that way to me also because I was staying in what was the Olympic village.

Los Angeles, USA

This is legit - the real LA.

Bratislava, Slovakia

One of the must-see sights of Bratislava.

Hamilton, New Zealand

I saw this manhole at the Base shopping centre, and thought it warranted a photo and a mention, especially since it is in my hometown. Unfortunately it is not so clear - those square tiles are actually the symbol of Hamilton - basically an S-shaped river flowing through it.