As far as I know, Yokosuka City in Kanagawa Prefecture is the only city in Japan that has a manhole design featuring a gaijin. The foreigner in this case is Commodore Matthew Perry, the American naval commander who played a important role in forcing Japan out of its policy of isolation when he sailed into Uraga Harbor on 14 July 1853. The ship depicted in the background of the manhole is one of the four coal-fired "black ships", or kurobune. These were ships of western origin that started appearing menacingly in Japanese waters in the 19th century.
This is another more common design for Yokosuka's manholes. The star in the center is the city's seal and the flower is the city's official flower, the hamayū (ハマユウ) or Crinum asiaticum (also called Poison Bulb, Grand Crinium Lilium).
An underground fire hydrant.
Another fire hydrant. Fairly standard design, this one.
An air valve, whatever that is. I do like the color, though.
The Commodore, himself.
The Japanese Battleship Mikasa.
I traveled down to Yokosuka for two reasons. The first was, one, to see the battleship, which is the last remaining example of a “pre-dreadnought” battleship. It was launched in 1900, commissioned in 1902 and served as the flagship throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The was restored in the 1950s after years of neglect.
The second reason I visited the city was to get a feel of the place where my father was stationed with the Marines back in the early 1950s.