I was excited to catch a unique manhole cover like Gero Onsen on my trip through central Japan this past fall. I’d been in Takayama before but had never bothered looking down at my feet and was oddly excited to see what the city might be sporting on its sewer drains. (No, I never thought I’d write ‘excited’ and ‘sewer’ in the same sentence. 🙂 )

Sadly, this is all I was treated to:

Now, there’s nothing actually wrong with the rhodedendrons the city has chosen here but flowers are ubiquitous on Japanese manhole covers and I was hoping for something slightly more exciting.

So don’t come to Takayama for the manhole designs. DO come, though – with morning markets, Edo-era buildings, temples, shrines and a few hiking paths, I doubt you’d regret the trip!