Japan's Artfully Decorated Drain Covers

Apart from being known as an orderly country, Japan is one of the countries that really pays attention to the beauty of each city. Not only the architectural beauty of buildings, some areas even use art to beautify the appearance of their area so that it can attract tourists. One area that does this is the Ryogoku area in Tokyo, Japan. 

The area known as 'Sumo City' uses ornate art as decorations for their underground sewer covers. Reported from the website SoraNews24In fact, many of Tokyo's waterway covers are already decorated with sakura images. However, in this area, the artwork is said to be more special because it has iconic images. 

The manhole covers of this area are decorated with the image of 'Hakkiyoi! Sekitori-kun', which is the official character of the Sumo Association. There are also manhole covers decorated with the image of the Great Wave of Kanagawa around the Sumida Hokusai Museum.

The images are famous artworks by an artist named Katsushika Hokusai from 1831. Other Hokusai artworks are also on display in the form of manhole covers, such as images from the painting Fine Wind, Clear Morning or Red Fuji.

In addition to the manhole covers, Hokusai works are also seen decorating the benches. With these decorations, Ryogoku has become a tourist destination for fans of Hokusai's artwork.

For those of you who also like character decorations, the manhole covers in this area also feature other iconic images such as Godzilla, Pokemon, and other characters. Studio Ghibli which can be an attraction in itself for tourists and children. 

The artwork on these manhole covers was put to good use by an organization called Gesui Koho Purattohomu. They issued a series of cards based on the images on the area's drain covers for visitors to collect.

Travelers who purchase this series of cards will be able to find out where the street art is located. But for visitors who don't want to buy this series of cards, they can access more complete information through the official website. Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Sewerage.