Japanese museum touches something deep inside

By Shane Green, Sydney Morning Herald, 27th February 2006

The two schoolgirls were in Tokyo on a trip from their junior high school in central Japan.

Ayano Suzuki, 14, and her friend (but no relation) Yuiko Suzuki, 15, are standing on the first floor of the Meguro Parasitological Museum, peering warily into a glass case containing specimens of wormy, disgusting-looking parasites.

Why did they choose the parasite museum above the many other attractions in this thriving metropolis? "The other day, I saw a magazine article that said this was the only parasite museum in the world," said Ayano. "That's why we came."

From the expressions on their young faces, the museum was certainly making an impression. "I don't want parasites in my body," Ayano concluded reasonably. "It's scary," said Yuiko, capturing the mood nicely.

Japan does a very good line in the bizarre. Holding a place near the top of the bizarre list is the nondescript two-storey building in Meguro, a suburb south-west of the centre of Tokyo, that houses the parasite museum.

Each year, 70,000 people make the pilgrimage to be both awed and disgusted and not just Japanese. There is a big collection of parasites from animals. But if animal parasites are unsettling, the human section is truly gruesome. There is, for example, a photographic example of chronic swelling of the legs and scrotum. The prize exhibit is an 8.8 metre long tapeworm, which had a prosperous and obviously long life in someone who ate raw trout. Just so there are no doubts how long this really is, the museum curators have thoughtfully placed an 8.8 metre cord next to it, which you can unfurl.

The exhibit is a favourite photo spot for visitors.

There are other mementoes in the souvenir shop nearby: jewellery in the shape of parasites, and a pendant made from a real parasite encased in clear plastic. The best seller is in the T-shirt section a black number with a raised (cloth) tapeworm across the front. "Feel it," urges a museum worker. Just like the real thing, presumably.

The intention of the museum, said Professor Akihiko Uchida, its director, is not to scare visitors, but to promote knowledge on how to prevent infection by parasites. "But," he acknowledged, "people do tend to be scared."

The museum is actually a sideline for an important research facility in the rest of the building. "In Japan, we have a new trend of parasite-related problems new types of infection and a revival of infections," Professor Uchida said.

The museum gets it specimens from hospitals and veterinarians, and has about 300 on display.