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Minato City, Tokyo Gets 5 New Sailor Moon Manhole Covers

Japanese cities love to create designer manhole covers. From designs that represent the city to just lovely pieces of art, there are an assortment of specially designed manhole covers all over the island nation. Japanese government bodies also love representing anime series that take place in their cities through manhole covers. And now, Minato City in Tokyo is adding a new line of designer anime manhole covers in five locations based on Naoko Takeuchi's massively popular manga series Sailor Moon.

The official Twitter account for the Sailor Moon franchise announced on Jaunary 30 that the new manhole covers will appear in five locations in Minato City. Sailor Moon takes place in the city, particularly Azabu-jūban (home of the main character Usagi Tsukino and her friends). Both the official website for Sailor Moon and the Minato City homepage list the planned locations of the manhole covers: the entrance to the Azabu-jūban Shotengai (2-2-3 Azabu-jūban), by the Minato City Minato Public Library (3-2-25 Shibakoen), by the Toyo-eiwa Kindergarten and Elementary School (5-6-14 Roppongi), by the Tokyo Tower at the Shiba Water Supply Station Park (3-6-7 Shibakoen), and the entrance to the Keinaka Shotengai (5-20 Shiba).

The Minato City website also revealed the designs of the manhole covers. In the same order as the previously listed locations, the designs are Sailor Moon with Tuxedo Mask and Luna, the five Sailor Guardians (or Sailor Scouts) with a blue background, the untransformed Sailor Guardians, the Sailor Guardians with a green background, and the Sailor Guardians with a yellow background. All the designs use series creator Naoko Takeuchi's art style and not the style used in the 1990s anime series or Sailor Moon Crystal. While no official instillation date has been announced, Minato City plans to have the covers installed sometime in March 2024.

The Sailor Moon manhole covers just missed the franchises 30th anniversary in 2022, but their installations are a testament to the popularity of Sailor Moon. There is some distance between the five manhole covers, and an exact location hasn't been given. That will give fans a chance to explore the city Sailor Moon and her friends live in. If you're planning a trip to Japan and staying a few days in Tokyo, why not try and find all five of the Sailor Moon manhole covers in Minato City?

Sources: Sailor Moon franchise's official website and Twitter account, Minato City, The Guardian (Justin McCurry)