Look down to find art.
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A picture on a manhole cover in Osaka, Japan, shows the Osaka Castle. (123rf) -
Workers in Japan install a manhole cover donated by the artist Momoko Sakura. (Kyodo via AP Images) -
This manhole cover shows temari balls. People make folk art. They decorate real balls with yarn. (123rf) -
This bird is a heron. Some people in Japan think herons are good “luck.” (123rf) -
Two girls wearing kimonos and clogs play with temari balls. (123rf)
See the lids on the sidewalk? They hide pipes below. They are manhole covers. People paint pictures on them. Look at those colors!
The covers get old. People like the paintings. They buy them!
Pray: Thank God for people who want to make streets and sidewalks beautiful.
Read More:
Why would a person pay 3,000 yen ($20) for an old cast iron lid in Kyoto, Japan? It’s lovely! Workers access many sewer pipes through painted manhole covers. Pictures on the lids often serve as guides. A lid in an ancient town has a castle. A lid at the foot of a mountain shows Mount Fuji. The city of Maebashi put 10 manhole covers on sale in 2017. Almost 200 people wanted to buy them. People who collect the lids are called “manholers.”
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
For more about Japanese culture, see A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno in our Recommended Reading.
