Pokemon Video Shows How Japan’s “Poke-Lid” Manholes Are Made

While you wait for the Pokemon Present livestream happening in a few minutes, here’s an appetizer straight from Japan.

Many Japanese municipalities and prefectures in the country have been installing colorful manholes called “Poke-Lid” featuring Pokemon associated with their area, and today you get to see how they are made.

To be more specific, the video released today takes you through the creation of the Poke-Lid featuring Bronzong with Simisear that has been installed in  Nara prefecture’s Ikaruga town in January.

We get to see the process basically from the drawing board to installation, all the way through the forging and painting. It certainly shows that a lot of craft and love goes into creating those unique art pieces that bring a touch of color and joy to the Japanese streets (and quite a bit of visitors to the cities hosting them).

You can watch the video below.

The trend started with the installation of the first Poke-lid portraying Eevee in Ibusuki, Kagoshima prefecture, back in December 2018. As of now, 148 of the colorful manholes have been installed in thirteen prefectures including the five mentioned here.

If you want to see more, you can check out those installed in Tottori prefecture featuring Sandshrew and Sandslash, the lids portraying Chansey in Fukushima prefecture, the batch in Hokkaido, featuring Vulpix, and the previous group in Niigata prefecture starring Magikarp.