Hi everyone! I’m going to Japan with a group of friends from 3-16 April and am making a list of smaller/ simpler things I can do in Japan on the go. One of the things I came up with was collecting stamps from stations and shrines etc and looking for the decorated manholes.
I was wondering if there’s a way you can easily look up the locations of either the stamps or manholes like a site so I don’t have to bother staff to ask for them?
5 comments
– [Pokelids Manholes](https://local.pokemon.jp/en/manhole/)
– [Tokyo 2022 Manhole Rally (parts of website are JP only so use Chrome to open)](https://tokyo-manhole2022.com/index_en.html)
Stamps are easy to find, keep an eye open and you will find them. All JR stations should have one, they can be more or less hard to find, usually outside of the ticket gate. In some cases you might have to ask for the hardest to find stamps, but you should find enough just by keeping an eye open. Also check at touristic attractions.
Manholes are easy, you just walk around and pay attention. 90% of them are decorated and sometimes there are different decorations in the same area so worth keeping an eye out after finding one.
I took pics of them for my mum this trip and easily got Hiroshima, Miyajima, some random places around, and plenty in Tokyo (basically the main places I went to this trip). My favourite is Fuchu near Tokyo and they had Chihayafuru ones too lol (Google Fuchu manholes if interested).
https://stamp.funakiya.com/
This is hands down the Bible for all eki-stamps, including most tollway rest stops and some tourist attractions in Japan. It’s in Japanese obviously but Chrome or Edge can auto-translate. JR and private railways will also hold stamp rallies, which often include prizes for completing it. However, they are very time-consuming. They aren’t generally aimed at tourists.
Even with this, it’s good to keep the phrase “Eki-sutampu (or stuampu if not train related) wa arimasu ka?” Handy.
Stamps are located at stations and tourist attractions. You may want to bring a notebook or other notebook with you for this one.
You can get a red seal at shrines. They will write it down at the office of the shrine. There is a fee of about 1,000 yen.
A special notebook called “Goshuin-cho” is available for purchase.
Manholes can be found everywhere. Walking down the street.