Treasure Under Our Feet- Manhole (updated Jul. 7, 1999)
I cannot find the Japanese translation for it other than "manhooru".  I found it in the older road side of Ozasaki.  Unlike the official manhole cover plates containing the city name, department name with a year or number reference, it depicts a Japanese Castle (Joo) at night, with firework blazing in the sky and flower bed -- probably Sakura, decorating the foreground.  On the lower left, it imprinted discreetly: "osui", I supposed it means water line.

Then, there was this abstract cover plate with no indication of whatever it was for.  Or perhaps the main task for the repairmen is to know how to read the hidden meaning.  And then came Indiana Jones who would have put all of them out of work.

In Nagoya, I found this plate depicting the industrial nature of the city, with the emphasis on their Castle (the Nagoya Joo in the centre).  Lily must be their city flower, and the water below represented the Nagoya Harbor.  Interestingly enough, and it is the main reason I took this picture, was that for some plates, there was an engrave of "N"-- north on the top of the inner ring, and this particularly plate was actually pointing to the North.  I made a point to check out other plates, and so far, to my surprise, most of them were pointing roughly towards the northern end-- not exactly, but close.
 

In the States, gender differences have become a big issue.
I was told that this plate would be called as a Person Hole.


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