Then there are more offbeat, strange museums. In Japan there are, of course, many large, prestigious museums; but it also, for whatever reason, seems to have a ton of really unusual, weird museums. Some of these are major institutions, but many are run out of peoples’ houses, labors of love to their strange, but fascinating interests.

Here are some of the stranger museums you can visit in Japan:

Sex Robot Museum

During Koichi’s first season of TofuguTV, he visited a sex robot museum (鬼怒川秘宝殿) in the town of Nikko. Not a museum about sex, not a museum about robots, but a museum featuring both.

The footage remains in the TofuguTV archives, as it’s a little inappropriate for TofuguTV for hopefully obvious reasons, and presents many challenging editing problems.

Wow mister tengu, your nose sure is long!

Even if the footage never sees the light of YouTube, here’s Koichi’s impression on the museum:

Technically an animatronic sex museum and not a robot one (robot sounds cooler, though), this gem of a place is located in Nikko, which is mostly known for its hot springs, not “hot springs,” if you catch my drift. When I went we were greeted by a friendly older (and presumably extremely perverted) older gentleman who asked us to take as many pictures and video as possible, something I’m not usually used to. It makes me wonder if he knew this place was on its last legs, so he wanted as much of it preserved on people’s cameras as possible. I could be wrong, but I doubt that it’s still around (and if it is, it probably doesn’t have long to go). It will probably make for a stellar haikyo someday, though.

The museum itself had several “exhibits,” most of them including animatronic naked dudes and ladies doing unspeakable things while the full volumed sound system made sounds like “ohhh Ohhhh OHHHHH” – *machines whirring* – “IYAHHHHH.” They would awkwardly slide/move around in their predetermined paths doing their predetermined things, and each exhibit was surprisingly different . . . yet not so different. Upon exiting the museum part, there’s a gift shop full of *ahem* “interesting” things, a theater for watching, uh, you know, and a half-naked statue of Marlyn Monroe. I think this was their most prized possession as it seemed to be the best taken care of (though unfortunately it didn’t move).

All in all, the hot springs probably would have been a better choice to visit, but I can safely say that this definitely is the weirdest museum I’ve ever been to, so at least I can take away that much from the whole experience.

Trick Art Museums

Whether it’s trying to decipher an M. C. Escher illustration, or getting lost in Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s mind-bending creations, optical illusions are incredibly fascinating puzzles that almost everybody seems to enjoy.

Fortunately, there are not one, not two, but at least three museums in Japan that specialize in optical illusions or, as they call them, “trick art.” Each has its own different theme: the trick art museum in Tokyo seems to favor an Edo-era style of Japanese supernaturalism, while the Takao museum focuses more on Egyptian and Western-style art.

You’re not a real sushi chef!

Many of the exhibits at both museums are interactive, or at least present some kind of photo opportunity for visitors. Even though these museums don’t teach visitors about fine art, natural history, or any of the normal subjects covered by museums, any one of these trick art museums sounds like a lot of fun to visit.

Takao Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.jp/

Tokyo Trick Art Museum – http://www.trickart.info/

Nasu Trick Art Museum – http://www.trick-art.jp/index.html

Meguro Parasite Museum

Located in Tokyo’s Meguro district, the Meguro Parasite Museum claims to be the world’s only parasite museum: a claim that surprised me, but haven’t been able to refute.

The Tofugu team got the chance to visit the Meguro Parasite Museum earlier this year, and were blown away by this unique collection.

Despite its small size, The Meguro Parasite Museum boasts an impressive collection of preserved parasites of all shapes and sizes. Among its specimens are frighteningly long tape worms to organisms that had been infested by parasites—I remember seeing a sea turtle’s decapitated head floating in a jar of what I assume is formaldehyde. The museum also features interactive learning exhibits, and a very cool parasite codex (see header image).

The gift shop is great too! After trying to decide between a phone strap and some stickers, I ended up buying an official Meguro Parasite Museum tote bag as a gift. If you know somebody who loves parasites, I can’t recommend a better gift.

Meguro Parasite Museum – http://www.kiseichu.org/Pages/default.aspx

Suwa Lucandiae Museum

Beetles are, for whatever reason, are a prevalent theme in Japanese culture. Kids catch beetles to have them wrestle, sumo-style, in tiny rings; there are countless Japanese games about capturing and fighting with bugs; and there are several beetle characters in Japanese pop culture (RAAAWWRRRR MEGALON).

Try not to think about all of the beetles coming alive at once.

Given that, it should come as no surprise that there’s a beetle museum in Tokyo. The Suwa Lucandiae Museum (“lucandiae” is the scientific name for stag beetles) is the ultimate labor of love. The owner, the “Suwa” in “Suwa Lucandiae Museum,” runs the museum out of the ground floor of his house, using his personal collection of beetles to stock the exhibits.

It’s a modest affair, but if you’re not charmed by Suwa’s efforts, then maybe the impressive collection of invertebrates will win over your heart.

You can read more about the Suwa Lucandiae Museum on PingMag.

Hara Model Railway Museum

Model trains are one of those hobbies that seem to lend themselves to obsessive devotees. You might have an uncle who locks himself in his basement to carefully paint his miniature figures and set up replica towns for his model trains to pass through.

One man turned his obsession into a museum. Nobutaro Hara, model train afficianado, decided to take his impressive model train collection, built over his lifetime, and build the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama.

Even if you have no particular interest in model trains, the Hara Model Railway Museum is impressive on its own merits. The care and attention to detail given to the miniaturized trains and landscapes are incredible, especially when you consider that it’s all largely the work of one man.

Read our earlier post for more details about the musuem.

Hara Model Railway Museum – http://www.hara-mrm.com/index.html

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

Unlike most of the museums on this list, the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is a fairly well-known large museum created by a major corporation, Nissin Foods.

Delicious, custom-made Tofugu ramen.

Outside of Japan, the Instant Ramen Museum seems like kind of a novelty, and is unlike any museum you’ve been to. You’re greeted at the entrance by a life-sized statue of the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando standing atop a giant container of Cup Noodle ramen.

It only gets better from there. From a hall of ramen where you can see virtually every single type of instant ramen Nissin’s ever made, to a make-your-own Cup Noodle factor, the Instant Ramen Museum is unique, and much more fun than a museum dedicated to flash-fried, pre-packed foods has any right to be.

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum – http://www.instantramen-museum.jp/

There are, of course, many more interesting and strange museums all across Japan; but these are the ones that really caught my attention. Am I missing your favorite museum on this list? Let me know in the comments!

For better or worse, instant noodles are one of the most important Japanese culinary creations of the modern day. And Japanese company Nissin leads the world in production of instant ramen. This is the company that not only invented instant noodles, but today sells both Cup Noodles and Top Ramen. The company has its own museum in Osaka, which Erin wrote about way back in the day.

But Nissin, not being content with just one instant ramen museum, decided to open another museum in Yokohama on September 17 this year.

The Yokohama Museum

The Yokohama museum is extremely similar to the Osaka location in a lot of ways. The museum, of course, has the history of Nissin detailed in the museum, displaying products from the company’s past, pictures from early days of the company, and other interesting Nissin tidbits. But of course, a museum dedicated to the history of Nissin sounds pretty boring to most people, so Nissin has made the museum more exciting by adding these cool exhibits:

My Cup Noodle Factory

Probably the coolest part of the museum is the “My Cup Noodle Factory,” where you get to make your very own Cup Noodle from start to finish. You get to design the cup itself, by that I mean you get some markers and a blank cup.

“…and some sprinkles, and some Oreo bits…”

You get to choose the fillings for your Cup Noodles, which include foods like shrimp, kimchi, asparagus, and cheese. From there, the museum freeze dries and seals your noodles for you to enjoy later at home, or in a bomb shelter in some sort of apocalyptic scenario.

Make Your Own Noodles

The Nissin museum also teaches you how to make your very own ramen noodles. The museum walks you through all the steps, from kneading and rolling the noodles, to cutting them up, steaming them, and ultimately flash frying them to turn them instant ramen. It’s all the taste of the three-minute instant ramen you know and love, with all the effort of making an actual meal!

Former Prime Minister Richard Gere watches child laborers produce ramen.

The museum requires groups to make reservations in advance to make the noodles, but it definitely does sound like an interesting thing to do. After all, how many of us make our own noodles?

Restaurant

The museum also features a restaurant that serves different types of noodles from around the world. You can get everything from phở to rigatoni and anything in between.

Admission to the museum is ¥500, or about US $6.50. It costs a little extra to put together your own cup, make ramen, or grab a bite to eat at the restaurant, but it definitely looks like it’s worth it.

Momofuku Ando

Of course, I can’t talk about Nissin’s newest museum without talking about the company’s founder, Momofuku Ando. Ando was the Thomas Edison of prepackaged dried foods. Born in Taiwan, Ando moved to Japan after World War 2, eventually becoming a Japanese citizen.

Ando started Nissin while perfecting the technology to flash-fry noodles. By flash-frying noodles, he found a way to preserve noodles for people to eat later.

Momofuku Ando: Millionaire, playboy, stand-in Bond villain.

Ando took great pride in his invention. After the war, the Japanese were in desperate need for food. There were famines, and many people literally starved to death in the post-war years. Instant ramen provided an inexpensive and effective way for people to get the calories they needed to live.

But while Ando’s invention was certainly very important after World War 2, what about instant noodles today?

Instant Ramen: Actually Not That Great for You

Turns out instant ramen actually pretty bad for you. There are of course tons of health concerns about instant ramen, everything from its high sodium and fat contents, to being devoid of pretty much every vitamin known to man. And now that Japan’s food supply is much more secure than it was in the Post-War era, instant ramen isn’t as much of a necessity as it used to be.

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Have you been to the Osaka Nissin Museum? Have you gotten a chance to visit the new Yokohama location? Let me know down in the comments!

P.S. Love instant ramen? Follow us on Twitter.
P.P.S. More a fan of street ramen? Like us on Facebook.

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Now, if you’re fanatical about familiar with Cup Noodles and their consumption, chances are you’ve come to anticipate, perhaps even fondly, that burst of MSG-laden steam that greets you as you remove your Cupmen and open the lid, having waited for what seems like forever the requisite three minutes for your noodles to cook. And maybe you’ve thought to yourself, “This is nice. Scratch that, this is GREAT!” Maybe you wish that first muggy moment would never end—and if you do, who’s to judge? Not the guy that came up with the idea for Cup Shitsuki (カップ湿器 or Cup Humidifier), that’s for sure.

The Cup Shitsuki is much like any other Cup Noodle variety, minus the noodles.

And the toppings. And the soup.

To use the Cup Shitsuki, all you need to do is fill it with water and turn it on. After a few moments, the cup will, using microvibrations rather than heat—eliminating the risk of you accidentally scalding yourself trying to to take a sip of what looks like a very inviting cup of instant ramen sitting on your desk—begin to emit a steady stream of fine mist, making the air in workspace/bedroom/basement instantly more comfortable.

The Cup Shitsuki comes complete with a UV Germicidal Light (紫外線殺菌灯 or I’m-not-even-going-to-pretend-to-be-able-to-pronounce-that-kanji) to prevent bacteria from growing in the humidifier, since every Cup Noodle enthusiast’s top priority is health, right?

All kidding aside, this is a pretty nifty idea, you have to admit. Plus, it’s (optionally) USB-powered! I love crazy USB gadgets. At 5,980 円 (approximately $72 USD), though, all that niftiness doesn’t come cheap. Would any of you be willing to shell out the cash?

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P.S. If you thought “WANT” You should follow Tofugu on Twitter, here.

This post was written by Erin, surprisingly enough.

Source: JTT Online Shop and Gigazine