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Rare manhole cover sale attracts enthusiasts in Japan

15 Comments

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15 Comments
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Japan does have nice manhole covers - I have often admired them - a nice bit of detail in otherwise unattractive and poorly planned urban centres.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

im a great fan of manhole covers. take so many photos for a book on them, but a project for a rainy day...

hope people don't steal them though, wouldn't want to fall into a sewer at 1am with a broken leg. please keep this great art a secret. enjoy.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Already happening around the globe sadly with people stealing them, leaving a gaping hole in the road. If they are perceived as being worth something, encouraged by sales and advertisement like this, then someone will help themself.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

...enthusiasts called "manholers,..."

I thought that term referred to a different kind of enthusiast.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I think they need to change the name! It is so sexist!!! Its a ServiceHole.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I hope my mother doesn't read this, I just admitted I'm a "manholer".

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@goodlucktoyou, by the time you realize you have enough pictures for a book, the trend is oversaturated and others have already done the book thing. I bought a used book full of pics of customized covers a couple years back. Now you need to find another angle on this topic that a simple photo collection is missing, like writing about the more obscure details of the designs and their link to local history or modern culture etc. Good stories never go out of fashion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Those covers are as slick as snot on a rainy day when you go over one on a motorcycle.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Like the covers, interesting they are mostly by one company in saitama.

Even mundane items can be arty, etc.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The article says "The iron covers, which are no longer in use", so what are they using, plastic? and when these covers get traded or swapped I feel sorry for the courier who has to shift them! at 40kg each watch your toes and backs!! guys

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Covers get replaced is no longer in use. Hence the auctions they still carry worth due to metals used.

Hence why they get stolen, ditto for copper wires.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's good that Japan has decorative manhole covers, but they are often located in ugly environments with powerlines, unrestricted signage, lots of concrete, buildings constructed with little or no regard for traditions or the neighbourhood, etc., etc.

It would be a better use of time and money for Japanese local governments to focus on those problems and not on how to get their local symbol onto a manhole cover.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They really need to find a different name, lol.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In China, manhole covers are often Stolen and resold for scrap...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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