Meguro Parasitological Museum

Meguro Parasitological Museum - darkometer rating : 4 - A small specialist medical museum in Japan 's capital Tokyo – in fact it's said to be the world's only museum dedicated to the singe topic of parasites. And it's an infamous institution – a prime destination for the " icky medical tourism " category . > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations What there is to see: Two small exhibition rooms on two floors (plus an even smaller historical side room) contain mostly all manner of hookworms, tapeworms and whatnot preserved in formaldehyde-filled jars. The star piece is an enormously long tapeworm that was removed from the intestines of a 40-year-old man. It is complemented by a piece of fabric tape of the same length rolled up on a hook mounted next to the specimen – you can unroll it to get an even better impression of just how long the monster worm was. 8.8 metres (nearly 30 feet)! Hands-on ickiness! Another famously icky specimen is that of a dolphin stomach infested with "noodle-like" growths/worms. The sight can give you an instant tummy ache. But even freakier than the specimens are the photos of the effects of some parasites. The grossest of them all must be the picture of a scrotum grotesquely enlarged through elephantitis. It's truly elephantine in size: reaching to the ground and twice as thick as the thighs it's hanging between! The primary purpose of the museum is supposed to be educational, however … it's part of a renowned research institute after all. Accordingly, a big point is made about ways of contracting parasites and how to prevent infection. The labelling and explanatory texts are almost exclusively in Japanese only. Just the odd specimen has an extra English label added, most have not.