I heard you can get Ashiya City’s “Manhole Card” at Ashiya City Hall, so I went to check it out!
You don’t get it at the main City Hall building, but at the “Ashiya City Hall East Building” next door.
After entering and walking a little farther inside, there’s a “Manhole Card” banner!
Go through the door on the right, and just ask the staff at the counter on your left. You can get a manhole card right away for free.
↑ This is the “Ashiya City Promotion Logo Design” manhole card you can get at Ashiya City Hall! The colorful design on a white background makes for a stylish manhole cover.
Manhole cards are distributed nationwide as part of the public relations activities of the Sewerage Public Relations Platform (GKP), with 758 types issued by 575 local governments across Japan. (As of August 21, 2021)
Of course, the manhole covers featured on the cards are ones that are actually in use!
So I headed over to a nearby spot where there’s an “Ashiya City Promotion Logo Design” manhole cover.
Looking down at the ground on the corner in front of Ashiya Police Station…
There it was!
It’s a manhole cover with the exact same design as the card.
The back of the card explains the origin of the design. Once you know the story behind it, seeing the real thing makes you go, “Ah, I see!”
There are currently two types of Ashiya City manhole cards being distributed: Series 8 (this one) and Series 12, and each is available at a different location.
It seems the Series 12 card is being distributed at the Ashiya City Museum of Art & History, so I think I’ll go pick that one up another time too!
Here’s the map for the Ashiya City Hall East Building, where the Series 8 card is distributed↓
The address is 8-28 Seido-cho, Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture.
