New Obsession: Manhole Cover Cards!

    We found this in Ishinomaki's tourist information center, where a little sheet asked for information about where you came from before you were encouraged to only take one card per person, which we obeyed despite my inclination to grab a bunch for all my friends.

My husband and I both geeked out a bit over these. What a fun, weird thing celebrating one of my favorite fun, weird things about Japan!

One for him, one for me.

    One thing I love is the way the capture the beauty of the manhole cover as well as it's exact location on the front while giving detailed explanation of the design and importance to the town on the back. Finding this feels a bit like a real-life version of a treasure hunting video game. Maybe this is what geocaching is like? Only with collectible cards, so it's more like a collectible card game, but for obscure geekery?

I don't think there's any game you could play or special thing you could do with the cards other than collect them as fun mementos, but I still want them.


The screenshots I took of the mostly Tohoku cards with one notable exception: the yellow one at the bottom is in Nakatsugawa, the first town I lived in when I came to Japan. I've seen that one in person, but there were no cards in 2008.

    Using the QR code on the back of the card, I found the website with a whole database of the cards that have been released so far. The majority of the cards are in places like Tokyo, but there are a few up here in Miyagi and some in places we have even been before. The website details not only the location and description of the manholes but the location of where the cards can be collected from should they still be available.

    With the Lapras Stamp Rally winding down once again, it is excellent to find a new weird thing to search out on our adventures.