In Japan, manhole covers don’t simply exist to prevent people or things from falling into utility vaults.
Many towns and municipalities have their own unique cover designs linked to local sights – from deer in Nara to Osaka's famous castle.
Little, mundane works of arts, they are ignored and stepped upon on a daily basis.
But the often colorfully painted manholes are known to have drawn crowds of “drainspotters”, obsessed with collecting pictures of the estimated 6,000 different manhole cover designs in Japan.