Odaiba’s Misfit Museum: The Unko Museum

ByMichael Stigall

Museums, Tokyo City, Tokyo Metropolis

Nov 30, 2023

Odaiba’s Misfit Museum: The Unko Museum

Maybe I’ve been here too long but sometimes I forget that Japan has a reputation for being, well, a weird place. Occasionally, I come across something that surprises and delights me as much as it reminds me that there is a reason for the weird reputation. This brings us to the Unko Museum. We knew it was bound to happen eventually; Japan is home to the first restroom-themed restaurant, our toilet technology is talked about and adored far and wide, and we even invented this 💩 emoji. Plus, there is a museum for pretty much anything you can imagine, including parasites. So, of course, Japan should be the first to have a museum dedicated to all things doo-doo. A poo-seum, if you will. So if you’re hankering to know all about Mr. Hanky, then head over to the Unko Museum and brace yourself!

Located near Odaiba, Tokyo Teleport Station, on the Rinkai line, is the closest access by metro, about 30 minutes from Shinjuku Station. The museum is hosted on the second floor of the Diver City Tokyo Plaza so it makes a great, if odd, double feature to the Giant Gundam in front. As you can probably guess, unko means poop in Japanese, but don’t worry because you’ll never forget it after leaving here!

Un-teractive Un-telligence

The museum offers plenty of hands-on exhibits and spaces to learn about and, yes, even play with digital poo. Learn about how humanity has dealt with cleaning up after its #2s since the beginning of time. There’s also an area where you can learn about unko in modern times – poop pop culture – and see everything from books to toys that are inspired by or deal with dookey as an art form.

Un-stagrammable

A large part of the venue is dedicated to creating spaces where you can get it on the ‘gram and show your friends you’ve spent a crappy day at the Unko Museum. From floating pastel swirly poops to interactive floaties in a giant toilet held by Unberto (unbelt), the poopy mascot, you can impress/gross-out your followers with your own hot take on the exhibit.

Website

うんこミュージアム TOKYO【公式】 (unkomuseum.com)

ITA-ATU, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons