Hey, baby, I know this really great parasite museum

We finally made it to  the Meguro Parasite Museum, a staple of weird/free/weird-and-free lists of things to do in Tokyo. It's compact. A drab office building with a few rows of nicely lit glass jars right inside the glass front doors. 

There's not much English, so, beyond the obvious, it can be a little hard to tell exactly what's what. I heard one person say "That one looks like a big turtle head." It was a big turtle head. The parasites were in the eyelids. Without text, one illustration looks like it explains that matchbox-sized crabs could scrabble around inside human lungs.

On the second floor, there are black and white photos of people infected with parasites, a map of the world showing what kinds of micro-creepycrawlies are where, and more glimmering jars of parasites and infested tissues. There are life cycle diagrams that, as Jim pointed out, implicate the snail as the key vector for an awful lot of the parasites. Note to self: no more escargot.

The place was unexpectedly crowded, and it doesn't seem like a location that you'd stumble on accidentally. There were parents with kids - mostly boys - and lots of couples. Dressed up, datey, young couples. There's quite a bit of lore attached to date spots, like if you go on the swan boats in Inokashira park you'll break up. I have to wonder what an afternoon trip to the parasite museum foretells.

Visit the Parasite museum:
Open 10 - 5, Tues thru Sun.
4-1-1, Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0064 About a 15-min walk from Meguro station.

Let me emphasize that this is in Meguro, not Naka-Meguro. You might think this is obvious, given that it's called the Meguro Parasitological Museum and that would be clever to point out in the comments. You are welcome to do so, but know that it will not endear you to me.