A man from Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, is collecting photos of "local manholes," which are designed with local landmarks and features in a space 60 centimeters in diameter. He has traveled to various places and photographed over 550 manholes. The man says he wants to continue doing this in a fun way, and is eager to continue.
Toyotsugu Yoshioka (80 years old) from Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City. He ran a kimono shop in Nakagyo Ward that had been passed down from his father's generation, but closed the shop at the age of 62. He started collecting photos about 12 years ago. It all started with a camera given to him by his eldest son, who was working at Canon at the time.
He started taking photos of manholes close to him, thinking, "I'll start with the ones close to me," and he became fascinated by the elaborate "lids" he encountered at the bottom of the manholes wherever he went. Gradually, his range of activities expanded, and he visited every municipality in Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture.
Whenever a new product is released, such as a "Poke Lid" featuring characters from the popular video game "Pokemon" or a manhole cover featuring the popular anime "Mobile Suit Gundam" (Kyotango City), he heads to the site to take a look. He has now taken over 550 photos of manholes. His wife, Chieko Yoshioka (82), smiles and says, "I'm amazed that he managed to take so many."
In addition to photos of public baths and train stations in Kyoto City, he also collects tickets for the Sanin Line of JR, and the number of albums has reached 110. Yoshioka says, "Once I start collecting, I'm not satisfied until I finish it. I want to continue and have fun."
The Marutamachi branch of Shiga Bank (Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City) is holding a photo exhibition of Yoshioka Toyotsugu's work until the end of February.
