I had no idea what these were when I took the photo. While at work, so when I shouldn’t have been, I was looking at the pic on my computer and asked the person next to me what they were. Without missing a beat he said they were den-den daiko. He also said this particular manhole cover was unique to Asakura city (Fukuoka Pref), his hometown. It is indeed a small world that we live in.

It turns out I was familiar with them, and they are mesmerizingly fun to play with. They’re quite small and you get them to work by rolling the handle back-and-forth in your palms. This causes the two attached beads to hit the faces of the drums. Hours of fun for the whole family!

For a little more info, check out the Wikipedia entry. I love the last line, “The drum played a central role in the movie The Karate Kid, Part II.”