Có nên gọi là womanhole không?

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They are heavy disks of cast iron that separate us from our subterranean sewage (nước thải ngầm), but in Japan, they are also highly coveted (thèm muốn) works of art, symbols of regional pride (niềm tự hào khu vực), and now, sources of revenue (nguồn thu nhập).

Local authorities (chính quyền địa phương) are cashing in (kiềm tiền) on the public’s fascination (đam mê) with the country’s decorated manhole covers, with Kyoto now joining a list of locations that are putting obsolete (lỗi thời) lids up (nắp) for sale.

The city’s government has said it will sell iron manhole covers to members of the public for the first time, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.

At ¥3,000 ($20) apiece, the covers – manufactured in 1978, 1981 and 1990 – would be considered a steal (món hời) by collectors keen to own a slice of the city’s history in the form of a 90kg piece of industrial art (nghệ thuật công nghiệp). According to media reports, new manhole covers cost around ¥60,000 each.

One of the covers features a pattern reminiscent (gợi nhớ) of the wheels of a court carriage (bánh xe của một cỗ xe triều đình) – a reference (ám chỉ) to Kyoto’s time as Japan’s ancient capital. Another has a grid-like motif (họa tiết giống như lưới). All three have acquired a rusty sheen (vẻ ngoài sáng bóng) and plenty of scratches during at least three decades of service on Kyoto’s streets.

The eastern city of Maebashi attracted a flood of applications (lượng lớn đơn dăng kí) after it put 10 manhole covers on sale in 2017, with almost 200 potential buyers, including from people living outside the city, according to the Kyodo news agency (hãng tin).

Tokorozawa, a city north of Tokyo, is one of several municipalities (đo thiij, thành phố) to have cashed in on the manhole craze (cơn sốt). In 2018, it came up with the idea of commercialising (thương mại hóa) the items when it invited firms to advertise on manhole covers in an attempt to finance its heavily indebted (mắc nợ nặng nề) sewage management system (hệ thống quản lý nước thải).

nguồn: theguardian,