The winner of the "#FavoriteManholeElection" is the Pokémon manhole cover in Machida City.

Kaneko's Seminar (College of Arts and Sciences) presents research at the Sakura Rib Festival

College of Arts and Sciences

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On October 31 and November 1, 2026, at the 60th Sakura Festival, held at the Machida Campus, Kaneko's seminar from College of Arts and Sciences held a special exhibition titled "The Appeal of Design Manholes ~Regional Character Discovered from the Ground ~."

The Kaneko Seminar has been holding an exhibition showcasing students' research findings at the university festival since 2016, and this will be the 10th time it has been held.

The theme is designer manhole covers that are spreading throughout Japan.

The design of manhole covers, which began in the 1980s with the aim of improving the image of the sewage system, is now attracting attention as a resource for tourism and regional revitalization through the distribution of manhole cards and promotion on social media.

The exhibition was structured into four chapters, covering everything from basic knowledge such as the history and role of manholes to the diversification of designs, their use as a tourist resource, and challenges such as maintenance costs and theft.

We held a participatory event called "#FavoriteManholeElection" at the venue.

The exhibition features 72 projects, both domestic and international, that the seminar students actually visited and investigated, along with photographs. Visitors are invited to vote for their favorite designs by placing stickers on them.

The top 10 results are as follows:

1st Place: Pokémon Manhole Cover (Original Pokémon) | Machida City, Tokyo (129 votes)

2nd Place: Pokémon Manhole Cover (Pikachu) | Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture (128 votes)

3rd Place: Gundam | Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture (87 votes)

4th Place: Inverted Mt. Fuji | Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture (73 votes)

5th Place: Kamakura Station | Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture (72 votes)

6th Place: Ultraman | Setagaya Ward, Tokyo (64 votes)

7th Place: Myakumyaku | Various locations in Osaka Prefecture (61 votes)

7th Place: Hiyoko-chan | Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture (61 votes)

9th Place: Chihayafuru (all 7 types) | Fuchu City, Tokyo (52 votes)

10th Place: March Comes in Like a Lion | Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture (49 votes)

1st Place: Pokémon Manhole Cover (Original Pokémon) Machida City, Tokyo

2nd Place: Pokémon Lid (Pikachu), Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture

The top-ranked item was the "Poké Lid (featuring the original Pokémon)" located in Serigaya Park in Machida City, very close to our university's Machida Campus. Machida City is where Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, spent his childhood, and there are six Poké Lids installed in Serigaya Park.

Along with the second-place winner, who came in by just one vote, designs that collaborated with popular content and local governments dominated the top rankings. However, designs depicting local nature and landmarks, such as the fourth-place winner "Inverted Mt. Fuji" and the fifth-place winner "Kamakura Station," also garnered support.

680 people visited over the two days, and almost all of the 500 printed explanatory booklets were gone.

Detailed information about the exhibition and the results of the general election are reported on the Kaneko Seminar website below.

3rd Place: Gundam, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture

College of Arts and Sciences Kaneko Seminar

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J. F. Oberlin University and Affiliated Schools General Planning Department, Public Relations Section

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The winner of the "#FavoriteManholeElection" is the Pokémon manhole cover in Machida City.

Main content

Inquiry

J. F. Oberlin University and Affiliated Schools General Planning Department, Public Relations Section

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