Print

Mail

wiki links

Heaps of dung have Japanese flocking to Tokyo exhibition

It may be the filthiest exhibit ever held by a Japanese museum.

But organizers insist the 78 kinds of animal and human excrement on display at the Tokyo Science Museum have an important lesson to teach -- and they appear to have a hit on their hands.

"We want to teach children to take responsibility for their health and be aware of the environmental consequences of what they do," said Toshiko Sunada, a food journalist who helped plan the exhibit. "There's a lot you can learn from poop."

Exhibit highlights include a 4,500-year-old fossil left behind by a neolithic Japanese seeking a little relief from all that hunting and gathering. The obvious favorite, however, is a pound-cake-sized sample of dried elephant dung at the touch-and-feel table.

"Since it's dry, it doesn't smell so bad," 10-year-old Atsushi Fukushima said after his mother prodded him to pose for a picture holding the grass-encrusted sample. "It's also lighter than I thought it would be."

Grimaces and giggles from the crowds of mostly elementary school students enjoying the show aren't uncommon. But the exhibit, which ends today, illustrates just how up front the Japanese are about a subject many other people might prefer to keep behind closed doors or tidy euphemisms.

"It's the most natural thing in the world," said Shoichi Sasou, 66, while examining a series of panels showing how sewage can be transformed into bricks or ceramic pots.

The exhibit, titled "All the Poop," arrived in Tokyo this month after enjoying a success last year in Japan's second-largest city, Osaka. About 10,000 visitors have paid ?500 (US$4) for a look since the show opened Aug. 10 for a three-week run.

"There's something for everyone here," said exhibit staffer Midori Taguchi. "But most people are happy just to be able to say they touched the poop."
This story has been viewed 6360 times.