Meguro Parasitological Museum

The Meguro Parasitological Museum is about a 10-minute walk from Meguro station, in Tokyo. This small museum, as the name suggests, is a museum about parasites, with lots of samples in jars, posters on walls and explanations of different parasites, their life cycles, and different ways of being affected by them.

I had heard of this museum, written up on several different websites as a bit of a quirky novelty. I suppose it is an unusual tourist draw, but it really is small, and has very few English explanations of anything. You can buy an English guidebook, or look at it for free (there's a sample one on the desk by the merchandise counter, along with all the Japanese books), and this does help a lot.

I was amused to read an English newspaper article on the wall which described the museum as being an unusual attraction for young couples; couples would go there on dates, to test their mettle or gross themselves out. As it happened, all the other visitors while I was there were young couples exclaiming over the displays. Unlikely as it sounds, I guess the article got it right!