Sailor Moon Lids in Tokyo: Moonwalking

The anime and manga Sailor Moon is set in Minato City, Tokyo: Let’s discover all the lids in the Minato ward and collect the Sailor Moon card!

I’ve been on a little quest to collect some manhole (lid) cards in Japan – at least the ones I have a connection with. I picked up the card for Ota City and Shinagawa (Cinnamoroll) and took photos of both lids. These cards are usually given out at tourism offices. And they are free.

Minato City Tourist Information

There are five Sailor Moon lids in Tokyo, distributed all around the Minato ward. My first stop was the Minato City Tourist Information though. This is were they hand out the card (one per person) and they are well prepared for visitors asking for them. The office also sells some merchandise, including round towels with the images of the Sailor Moon lids. When I went, they had plenty of cards left. However, as with any kind of collectible, they may run temporarily out of stock.

I chatted a bit with the friendly staff, letting them know how awesome this culture of design lids is. It’s by no means exclusive to Japan – other countries and cities also have elaborate design manhole covers – but design lids and collectible lid cards are very common here.

The tourist office has a Japanese map with all the locations, a short introduction of the Sailor Moon plot and the characters and some places related to the story.

The Five Sailor Moon Lids

I started with the lid numbered 5, “The Five Senshi (lemon colored)” (セーラー５戦士（檸檬色）. This one is near Tamachi Station (JR) or Mita Station (Asakusa and Mita Line). The lemon lid is at the entrance/exit of a shopping street.

From Mita Station, it’s possible to take the train to Onarimon Station (two stops). If you decide to walk, you’ll pass Shiba Park and the famous Zōjō-ji temple. Both offer a view of Tokyo Tower. I picked up my stamp (goshuin) from Zōjō-ji on my way to the blue Sailor Moon lid (セーラー５戦士（青）).

The third lid (number 4 on the map) is near the Shiba Water Supply Park. The primary color of the lid is green and the four Inner Senshi are standing in a V formation (セーラー５戦士（新緑）).

Next on the list was the red lid, the only one showing the Senshi in kimono. The Japanese name is うさぎ＆亜美＆レイ＆まこと＆美奈子.  It’s a short walk from Roppongi Station.

My final stop was the district most closely associated with Sailor Moon, Azabu-jūban. The lid is right next to the station and is the only to feature Sailor Moon’s love interest, Tuxedo Kamen, and talking cat Luna. Japanese name: セーラームーン＆タキシード仮面.

Additional Destinations

There are six additional locations in Azabu-jūban that are marked on the map. Those are said to have inspired Naoko Takeuchi. This includes the Hikawa Shrine (氷川神社). Rei (Sailor Mars) is a shrine maiden at the in-universe Hikawa Shrine (火川神社). Note that the first character of the Japanese name was changed from water (氷) to fire (火).

Don’t expect any acknowledgments of the manga at the six places or huge numbers of fans. When I visited Hikawa Shrine, I was the only person there.

What’s missing

The Outer Senshi! There’s no love for Sailor Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn. Neither are there lids for Chibiusa or the warriors of the Dark Kingdom. So there is room for more Sailor Moon lids, I believe.

Where to go next

Sailor Moon Store: Plenty of Sailor Moon merchandise at this store in Harajuku, Shibuya.