Meguro Parasitological Museum

On February 28, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Japan 2025, Travel

The Meguro Parasitological Museum is a private research facility that was established in 1953. The free admission museum exhibits about 300 parasite specimens and related material. On display are a number of animal parasites and also human parasites. These are real parasites removed from hosts and preserved. There are so many and they are so BIG! There were also several gruesome photos of humans and their parasites but I won’t put them up here. Go see for yourself 😮.

Worm specimens at Meguro Parasitological Museum.
Mostly different worms..round worms, tape worms.
8.8 meter long tapeworm specimen at Meguro Parasitological Museum
An 8.8 meter long tapeworm passed by a 40 year old man who ate infected raw salmon.
This is not a model, it is the actual worm that he passed.
I have eaten so much sashimi over the years and everyday on this trip. I wondered if I had any parasites.
Human round worms. They are big and thick, almost like earthworm size. Roundworm eggs can be in contaminated food, water or soil.
Rat with stomach parasites.
Some different fish parasites.
Some horsehair worms..on the left, bursting out of a praying mantis.
This one…In the blue vial, the bottom is an empty tick and the top is the same species of tick full of blood.
Different tapeworms.
More fish parasites.
Demonstrating the differences between parasitic and free-living species.
How can you eat udon right after seeing that museum?

How did we even know there was a Meguro Parasitological Museum? My daughter is a fan of Nekojiru manga. The Nekojiru pieces below are about her visit to the parasite museum in the late 90’s. Credit for translations to Read Nekojiru.

This was a fascinating museum. It was cool (and a little scary) to see actual specimens of parasites extracted from human subjects. Highly recommended.

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