Kappa manhole cover

     

There are Japanese towns who take branding very seriously, and if I may say, way before it was considered cool. These towns, whose number I imagine would be quite significant, take their チャーム・ポイント (unique/special feature) and infuse it with every other aspect of the town that they possibly can. Hey, why not?

For some towns it’s bamboo crafts, for others it’s traditional (Japanese) paper, or lanterns, or tea, or any and every other food or craft you could possibly name. For Tanushumaru in Fukuoka Pref, it’s the mischievous Kappa.

Pictured top-right, is Tanushimaru’s train station. Surrounding the station, and indeed all over town, are images and small, stone statues of Kappa. Below, in a place no-one will find, I found a monhole-cover, on a wall.

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  • http://twitter.com/lina1975 lina1975

    Tres cool!

    If I’d known about Tanushimaru earlier, perhaps I’d have make the trip there just to meet Kappa manhole cover, on a wall. ;)

  • Anonymous

    Oh, yeah. It’s pretty awesome. I perhaps wouldn’t skip Kyoto for it though. :P

  • http://www.poolofzen.com コールズ・真秀

    I totally dig your site and videos.  I gotta meet oneof these Kappa.  They sound like kinda interesting…. The whole ‘water in the head’ is a little weird.. what if it runs out…  What if you drink it?  so strange!

  • Anonymous

    Hey, 真秀! I found out. When the water has been emptied, they become immobile. Once they get a top-up from the river, they are your friends forever. Just a guess, and if it were real, but I’d say it’d be unsafe for drinking. BUT, I have hada kappa coffee. :P

  • Travis Seifman

    Kappazushi kaitenzushi is wonderful.

  • Ben Adelaide

    Of course, Kappa aren’t always that cute… they do have a tendency of running off with people (to do, only the Kappa God knows what with). There’s a lot of areas (especially near rivers) that claim to have some association with the Kappa… There’s an interesting old Japanese book called simply “Kappa”, by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke about the little fellas (sort of a Japanese Gulliver’s Travels).

    And to follow a recent comment…I’m surprised no one has seen a cafe selling Kappaccino around the place. I guess it’s not too late to start my Coffee empire in Japan.

    As for interesting things I’ve seen on a wall… hmmm… you did say to keep it clean…errr… need to think of a clean “strange” thing.

  • http://jaydeejapan.wordpress.com/ Jay Dee

    I love seeing unique train stations.  So many are so utilitarian, but there are a few that look interesting.  Another interesting one is Katase-Enoshima station in Fujisawa.  It’s designed like the dragon palace in Urashima Taro.