Initial D Manhole Cover 1, Shibukawa Station

Initial D Manhole Cover 1 is set in the footpath in front of Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza, the building facing JR Shibukawa Station in Gunma. It is the first of seven official Initial D manhole covers Shibukawa City has placed around town, and the only one in the city centre.

Ai Yokoyama, animation director of the New Initial D film series, drew all seven covers in full colour. This one shows Takumi Fujiwara standing with his Toyota AE86, the Hachiroku, drawn with Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza behind them as a welcome to the city. The same picture is on the front of Shibukawa's free manhole card.

Shibukawa is the town at the foot of Mount Haruna, the real mountain behind the series' Akina. The city says it holds a particularly large share of Gunma's Initial D settings: the mountain passes where the battles run, Takumi's family home and the place he took Natsuki on a date.

• The cover shows Takumi beside the Hachiroku with Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza drawn in the background, and it sits on the footpath in front of that same building.

• It is the cover on the card. Shibukawa's Initial D manhole card carries this artwork. Manhole cards are a nationwide collectable series overseen by the Sewerage Promotion Platform (GKP), each one printing a city's cover design with the story behind it.

• Shibusan, the local products centre inside the plaza, carries the full official Initial D x Shibukawa range, much of it built on the seven cover designs: medals, badges, coasters, round towels, T shirts and capsule key holders.

• The seven covers make a set: this one at the station, five around Ikaho Onsen (Yachiyobashi Car Park, the public toilets on the Alley of Literature by the bus terminal, below Ikaho Shrine, the square at the foot of the stone steps, and Alwin Park north car park), and the last at the old Yaseone Pass toll gate site where the Akina downhill starts.

• Best way to experience it: the card counter and cover 1 are side by side, so the station is where the set starts. Covers 2 to 6 are a walk apart in Ikaho Onsen, and cover 7 is further up the mountain road towards Lake Haruna.

• The cover is on the footpath in front of Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza, 1832-27 Shibukawa, directly outside JR Shibukawa Station. JR limited express trains from Ueno in Tokyo stop at Shibukawa.

• Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza has no car park of its own, and the city points drivers to the private car parks around the station.

• The free Initial D manhole card is handed out at Shibusan (Shibukawa District Local Products Centre) on the ground floor of Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, every day except New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and occasional closures. It is one card per person, given at the counter only. Cards cannot be reserved by phone or sent by post, and the city posts a notice on its website when stock runs low. Shibusan's phone is 0279-26-2423.

• Shibusan is the only shop that stocks every item in both series of official Initial D x Shibukawa goods. Prices include ¥550 for a cover design button badge, ¥990 for a round cover towel, ¥1,200 for a cover medal and ¥3,050 for the original frame stamp set. Stock is limited. Part of the range is also sold at D'z Racing Cafe Garage and the Ikaho Toy Doll and Car Museum.

• Buses run from JR Shibukawa Station up to Ikaho Onsen, and covers 2 to 6 are all in and around the town.

Last verified: 3 November 2026

Official link: https://initiald-shibukawa.com/eg/manhole.html