Magikarp Pokemon Utility Hole Covers Decorate Ojiya City’s Manholes

The Japanese official Pokemon Twitter account revealed new utility hole covers based on Magikarp. These Poke Lids are actually placed on several manholes in Ojiya City in Niigata, Japan.

While all four lids in Ojiya feature Magikarp, each of them also include another different Pokemon. One of them has a regular Magikarp posing with its shiny variant. Another Poke Lid shows a distant silhouette of its evolved form, Gyarados. Another one features a hardly-noticeable cameo with Feebas. And the last one shows a poor Magikarp picked up by a Pidgeotto.

The new Magikarp-based Poke Lids in Ojiya City further expand the collection of Pokemon-based utility hole covers placed in various cities in Japan since at least 2019. As of this writing, 12 prefectures have received at least one Poke Lid: Hokkaido, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Niigata, Shiga, Kagawa, Tottori, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki. However, Pokemon is not the only franchise to appear on manholes in Japan, as the Saga prefecture also placed unique utility hole covers based on Romancing SaGa.

The latest mainline Pokemon titles, Pokemon Sword and Shield, are immediately available worldwide on the Nintendo Switch. A variety of merchandise related to the franchise will also be available next year, ranging from Figmas to Funko Pops.