This Colorful Museum Is Entirely Dedicated to Poop

It was designed to make your Instagram pop — I mean poop.

Volcano room at the Unko Poop Emoji Museum in Japan
Photo: Courtesy of UNKO Museum

There are tons of unique destinations to visit in Japan, including islands inhabited by cats and bunnies, a ramen museum, bamboo forests, and beautiful gardens.

Well, get ready to add this brand new, somewhat unexpected attraction to your list.

In March, a new pop-up museum devoted to poop will open in Yokohama, according to Time Out Tokyo. Fittingly, the museum is called the Unko Museum (unko, meaning poop in Japanese).

Poster for Japan's pop-up Poop Museum
Courtesy of UNKO Museum

Renderings of the Unko Museum make it look like a candy-colored, techno dreamscape where you’d be more likely to see a unicorn than a swirly bit of poop. But it is poop you shall find — in all the colors of the rainbow.

Don’t worry, according to Time Out Tokyo, the museum is dedicated to cute poop, like the emoji. So, you won’t be staring at unpleasant droppings while you’re there.

Rendering of a room at the Unko Poop Emoji Museum in Japan
Courtesy of UNKO Museum

According to Mental Floss, the swirly poop icon is part of a larger cultural significance. In 1984, a piece of walking and talking poo called Poop-Boy premiered in the manga series "Dr. Slump," as is often credited for creating a cutesy poop culture in Japan.

So, if you’ve ever been curious about Japan’s cutesy (“kawaii” in Japanese) subculture, this should definitely be one of your top places to visit.

The museum itself is divided into three parts, according to Time Out Tokyo, with pun-derful names like 'un'teractive, 'un'sta-genic and 'un'telligence. Kids can play in a ball pit while adult guests can enjoy an interactive art display or take colorful Instagram photos in a dedicated room.

Interactive room at the Unko Poop Emoji Museum in Japan
Courtesy of UNKO Museum

Oddly enough, the opening of the Unko Museum coincides with the cherry blossom season, which is predicted to start a little early in 2019. But there are many more reasons to visit this beautiful and fascinating country, which was chosen by Travel + Leisure to be the 2018 Destination of the Year.

The Unko Museum is scheduled to open on March, 15 and will remain until July 15, 2019.

For more information (or, ‘un’formation?) about the Unko Museum, visit the museum’s website (in Japanese).

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