Meguro Parasitological Museum

The specimen everyone comes for is on the second floor: an 8.8-meter Japanese broad tapeworm, passed by a 40-year-old man who had eaten infected trout. That floor is about parasites that affect people, with life-cycle panels that make a good case for thinking twice about raw salmon and trout. The first floor covers the diversity of parasites across the animal world. Satoru Kamegai, a doctor, founded the museum with his own money in 1953, first in a temporary building; the current building was finished in 1992 and reopened the following April. It is a research museum as well as an exhibit, holding about 60,000 specimens, of which about 300 are on show. The whole thing fits on two floors, and most visits take 30 to 40 minutes. Entry is free and the museum asks for donations; the shop sells parasite-print T-shirts and guidebooks. Photos and video for personal use are allowed, but not tripods or live streaming, and no food or drink, gum included. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 17:00 is when you have to be out. The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is on the other side of Meguro Station if you want a second stop.