M,N

Mannou Koen. Kagawa Prefecture. It's pretty cool to have a manhole cover specifically designed for a park! There are cute dragon statues all over the place too. We were there for Monster Bash 2007, to see The 50 Kaitenz, Ulfuls and Skapara to ka. I was an idiot and got heatstroke. Fortunately I have some amazingly lovely friends and was well looked after.

Matsue. Shimane Prefecture. We really just stopped there on the way to Sakaiminato (which has very disappointing manhole covers. I figured them for having youkai on them but they're all plain!) but it's worth a visit for itself.

Matsue.

Matsuyama. Ehime Prefecture. Matsuyama is a lovely place. It has Dogo Onsen, the Botchan streetcar, the Botchan clock and a nice castle with a great chairlift going up to it. The castle has samurai armour that you are allowed to put on and take photos, and a taiko that you're allowed to play in the drum tower. Very interactive.

Matsuyama. It's also close to 8 of the 88 temples of the Shikoku pilgrimage. Number 51, Ishiteji, has to be the weirdest and spookiest temple I've ever been to.

Matsuyama. It's home to Dogo Beer, a very nice microbrew. You can get Umenishiki beer, brewed in Kawanoe, there too which is the best Japanese microbrew I've found so far. And I've found some corkers.

Matsuyama. This says it provides access to the onsen water. Dogo onsen is famous, apparently the oldest hot spring bath house in Japan, and the building is really beautiful. The actual baths aren't anything special though. To be honest the water was indiscernible from normal tapwater to me.

Mino. Gifu Prefecture. They make washi, traditional Japanese paper, here and you can buy lots of paper products. The town became very wealthy through making paper and the locals competed with each other for how fancy they could make their "udatsu" roof decorations. They're firewalls, designed to stop house fires from jumping from roof to roof.

Mino. A lot of the traditional buildings, with udatsu, have been preserved.

Minoo. Osaka Prefecture. Minoo is a pretty place and famous for it's maples, especially in autumn. You can get battered and deep fried maple leaves there. Honma ni.

Minoo.

Minoo. Also famous for its beautiful waterfall and the lovely park around it.

Minoo. It has monkeys too. Big ones. I saw some.

Mitaka. Tokyo Prefecture. This amazing piece of groundwear is inside the Ghibli Museum but makes me think of Brian Froud rather than Miyazaki Hayao.

Mitaka. Just outside the Ghibli Museum. Featuring ginko leaves, sakura and a boid. But missing the shoes of my promising junior partner in drainspotting crime, Nykita Ivanoff. It was Kita that came up with an appropriate punishment for covers that one runs over to only to discover that they are familiar. We tapdanced on them. Well. Stomped vigorously.

Mitaka. As above but with a full complement of shoes. From me at the nadir, going clockwise, Bean, Medge, Kerri Valkova (and Alexandra Faith Ivanoff, shoeless in this shot courtesy of not being born yet), Nykita Ivanoff and George Ivanoff.

Nagaokakyo. Kyoto Prefecture. Near Hankyu Nagaokatenjin Station.

Nagaokakyo.

Nagoya. Aichi Prefecture.

Nagoya. One of many that shows the famous shachihoko on the castle.

Nagoya.

Nagoya. Kanayama. Cute weird bug thing. Not sure where that fits into Nagoya culture.

Nagoya. Next to the Nagoya Shiminkaikan. I was there for Ulfuls. I really love the way the leaf litter highlights the design.

Nagoya. Note lovely new Skechers. From Oz, of course. It's a bit tricky getting 26cm shoes for chicks in this country.

Nagoya.

Nagoya. This one is in the middle of Otsudori, a major road. I had to wait until the traffic was held up at lights before running out and getting it.

Nagoya. The dog-end is a classy touch.

Nakamozu. Osaka Prefecture.

Nakamozu.

Nakayama. Hyogo Prefecture. Note that it says 'Takarazuka' - the name of the nearest city. The temple in Nakayama is the only one I've come across with escalators.

Nara City. Nara Prefecture. I took shots of this cover six years ago but thought I'd add a non-coloured version.

Nara. Featuring Peter's and Jimi's shoes. We were in town to see an exhibition by Sakiko Fujita.

Nara. I think the design on the sakura looks like an angry kappa's face.

Naruto. Tokushima Prefecture. This shows the bridge across to Awaji Island. Famous for the foaming white eddies formed underneath it where two bodies of malachite-green water meet. You can see them from a walkway under the bridge. Beautiful.

Naruto. Definitely not a real MHC. You'd have trouble getting a hand in there never mind a whole man. Cute though, eh?

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