It was an ordinary day. Sitting in my new lounge chair at my new home in Woodcrest Villa reading a story in my new Reader's Digest. The story is the first in the section "World of GOOD" and is titled "Look Down!" It was a one page story that I managed to turn into a much longer story after doing a bit of research. The story told of Japan's iconic landmarks such as the ancient temples of Kyoto and the neon-lit skyscrapers of Tokyo. But...the story delves into something extremely different...at least to me! Seems it is also about something that is under foot....manhole covers!! Yes...exactly that! It talks about and illustrates one of the roughly 6,000 beautifying manhole covers that grace the streets in many of the regions of Japan in which they can be found. The manhole covers serve as canvases and depict cultural symbols and events. British-Australian professional photographer Remo Camerota documented them in his new book "Drainspotting." Remo said that, "Finding them is the best part. It feels like a treasure hunt." So, I did a bit of searching and found quite a few of the photographs of the 6,000 manhole covers which you are about to observe for yourself. Enjoy the beautiful photography of Mr. Camerota as well as the beautiful artwork of Japanese artists. I most certainly did!! A few photographs illustrate several of the manhole covers as a collage, but all the covers are just an individual cover on the street. Wouldn't you just love to have the manhole covers in your town covered with the art of local artists. Maybe even covered with student artwork from local schools. Hey...I might have given you an idea...now it's up to you to carry it through! And...perhaps you might care to purchase Mr. Camerota's book that shows you all 6,000 of the covers. Just Google him! Click on images to enlarge them. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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