A woman was perusing the specimens of parasites that were crammed into the Meguro Parasitological Museum

Walking down Meguro-dori from Meguro Station, I arrived at a rather unusual museum. Inside the museum, which is not that wide, specimens of parasites are placed here and there. This is the Meguro Parasitological Museum, a rare museum in the world that specializes in parasites.

As I looked at the specimens on display from one end to the other, the ones with names I didn't understand continued to appear, even though I wasn't familiar with parasites. I could see that there were many parasites in the world that I just didn't know about. Just finding one whose name I had heard before was enough to make me feel as if I had found the name of a classmate I hadn't seen for a long time.

I was surprised by the wide variety of parasites on display, but I was also surprised that admission to the museum was free. Even though this is a private museum, they don't charge admission. In Japan, not only art galleries and museums, but even Buddhist temples as religious facilities charge admission fees. On the one hand, I can't help but wonder how the Meguro Parasitological Museum is making ends meet, since it needs funds to maintain and manage its facilities. The research fund might be necessary, too.

I wondered if the sales from the museum store alone were enough to cover the operating funds, and I became worried, so I gently put some money into the donation box that had been placed near the entrance. At times like this, I am usually overwhelmed. Then, after I put the money in, I thought to myself, "If they had just charged me the normal admission fee, I would have been able to get in". I wondered if it wouldn't have been cheaper if I had been charged a regular admission fee.

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