Back in 2019, Japan began its strange, but wonderful Poké Lid project, which promised to add Pokémon designs to manhole covers across the country. As of today, there are 148 of these lids in Japan, across 13 locations, all with unique designs and Pokémon. Five new ones were just added to the roads in Nara Prefecture, featuring Entei, Growlithe, Deerling, Bronzong, and Chimecho. The Pokémon Company is also working to make sure every one is a Pokémon GO PokéStop.
You may have heard of the Japanese art of manhole covers, or you may have seen them in Animal Crossing (and wondered why they were there). It seems like decorative manhole covers may have been the idea of some construction bureaucrat back in the '80s, and since then they have increased in popularity to the point where there are now thousands of the things across the country.
Here's a gallery of some of our favourites:
If you want to check all 148 manhole covers yourself, there's a handy website that has them all listed by region. We thought Super Nintendo World was our main reason to travel to Japan, but now we're altering our plans to visit a bunch of manhole covers. Why not!
If you just want a closer look at the five newest Poké Lids, here you go:
Which Poké Lids are your favourites? Do you live near one yourself? Let us know in the comments.
[source moshimoshi-nippon.jp]
Comments 19
There's me thinking that I'm just going to pick a few nice designs for the article, coming back from the website with fifty of them and weeping because I love them all
Is it just me, or do these look like those weird Yo-Kai Watch disks that were floating around a few years back? Those are the only things I think of when I see these.
Edit: Also, the person who designed these must a huge fan of Lapras. There were 6 of them that I saw, more than any other Pokemon for the set. I just find it weird that they'd be pushing Lapras, of all Pokemon.
They remind me of the medals from Yokai Watch.
@alexybubble Not just you.
These are legitimately gorgeous designs. And you're telling me they're just laying there in the middle of the street for the taking?
Of course it would be illegal to take one, and the moment you would try to sell it, you would be arrested...
...Unless... we form a black market specifically for the purpose of stealing the manhole covers to sell to the highest bidders, anonymously.
You know what... this is too much trouble, and they're probably really heavy. I guess we should just look at them and move along.
Learned about these yesterday and spent a solid 30 minutes browsing the website. They are all just fantastic.
I would seriously join a campaign to get these installed in many countries.
Please don’t Google Pokemonhole
@alexybubble there are also lots of Slowpoke ones, lots of Eevee ones, a few Alolan Vulpix ones... I just really like Lapras.
Wow, people here keep saying that Pokemon is just a nostalgic cover atop a pile of cr#p.....and sure enough, here we are!
These are great. There's a bunch of fancy manhole covers like this in Japan, not at all limited to Pokemon either. It's a real nice and simple way to add some color and creativity to something otherwise just utilitarian and dull.
I always felt like Japanese people really cared for their towns and cities. There was a much greater sense of collective ownership and responsibility. "This is our town and we want it to be nice! We live here together after all!" That was the impression I had of Japan while I lived there.
And all my street has is boring, old, plain covers...😤
If they had them here people would just steal them.
They just pave asphalt over the ones here. If you're lucky. Otherwise there's a 2" drop from the paving to the manhole and you crack at least one axle daily.
Wow they really look like yokai watch medals don’t they
@Heavyarms55 it does make me jealous. I had a few friends living in Japan, and they would tell me about the general quality of life there, and now I'm going to weep into a bag of Cheetos for the life I could have had
@KateGray Oh I understand. I go back and forth between regret and self hatred for ever leaving. Reverse culture shock is a serious thing.
@Heavyarms55 It really is impressive how clean Tokyo is from litter even with very few public trash cans around.
I went on the website and there is a vaporeon one. Rage canceled.
@Heavyarms55
I wish I could tell you the reverse culture shock goes away, but I think it just gradually becomes “reverse culture resignation.”
I returned from Japan over a decade ago and still get annoyed sometimes. 😑
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