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Pokémon manhole covers finally come to Tokyo with awesome Gen-1 designs【Photos】

Casey Baseel Aug 22, 2020
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A new batch of Kanto Pokédex Pokéfuta for the real-life Kanto region.

In December of 2018, Japan’s first Pokémon manhole cover was installed in Kagoshima Prefecture, on the southwest island of Kyushu. Since then other Pokémon covers, or Pokéfuta, as they’re officially called in Japanese, have been making their way north, appearing in a total of eight prefectures, including the northernmost part of Japan, Hokkaido.

But one place that was completely devoid of Pokéfuta was Tokyo. That situation was finally rectified, though, with the installation of six new Pokéfuta in the capital.

▼ Pikachu proudly presenting Pokéfuta

In keeping with the Pokéfuta project’s theme of boosting local tourism in often overlooked places, you won’t find the new Pokéfuta downtown. Instead, they’re all waiting inside Serigaya Park in Matsuya, a city in the southwest part of Tokyo Metropolis.

In contrast to other prefectures’ Pokéfuta, which feature the same species in multiple scenes, each of the Tokyo Pokéfuta’s characters are unique to their cover, though they all hail from the first-generation Kanto Pokédex (which is fitting since “Kanto” is also the real-life name for the eastern region of Japan that includes Tokyo). These are also the first Pokéfuta where humans can be seen, though it’s unclear if they’re Pokémon Trainers or just regular folks who came to hang out in the park and were lucky enough to encounter them randomly.

▼ Original starter trio Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle

▼ Oddish with Weedle and Caterpie, Rattata with Pidgey, and a pair of Poliwags

The new Pokéfuta were installed in a special ceremony held on August 21 attended by Pikachu and Machida mayor Joichi Ishizaka, who said he was “extremely happy” about the new pieces of public art/infrastructure, which were donations from the Pokémon Company.

▼ Ishizaka, playing in the park with the world-famous Electric-type

▼ The locations of the Pokéfuta inside Serigaya Park

The six new Pokémon manhole covers bring the total up to 103 nationwide, with Fukushima, Hokkaido, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Miyazaki, and Tottori being the prefectures outside Tokyo where they can be found. And if you’re wondering if Japan also has non-Pokemon-related anime manhole covers, the answer to that is a definite yes.

Park information
Serigaya Park / 芹ヶ谷公園
Address: Tokyo-to, Machida-shi, Haramachida 5-16
東京都町田市原町田５丁目１６
Website

Sources: PR Times (1, 2)
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times (1, 2)
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