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Osaka’s Zombie Museum opens like a disemboweled rib cage

Master Blaster Jul 29, 2016
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We take a tour of the Zombie Museum and learn a little about life…and death. Well, pretty much only death actually.

As RocketNews24’s high-culture correspondent I have reviewed some of the finest galleries and museums Osaka has to offer. Their service and sophistication are top notch holding some of the greatest cultural treasures in world class facilities.

So, the bar is set pretty high for the Zombie Museum in the Daimaru Department Store in the Shinsaibashi area of Osaka. It’s a bit of a low-budget location for a museum, but considering it was established in 2020 after the zombie outbreak crippled the global economy, that’s perfectly understandable.

Upon entering the museum, the story of Dr. Aoki and his heroic efforts to develop a zombie vaccine is relayed by one of the museum’s zombie researchers. It was informative but he kept pausing to cough up blood, not very professional if you ask me.

Visitors are then taken through various pieces of zombie-themed art. There are several works of painting and photography from both the happy and campy pre-apocalypse times.

And the post-apocalypse era, which is admittedly less happy.

Suddenly, I was startled when another guest ran towards me screaming and crying.

I went to see what was the matter and bumped into one of the museum’s staff. I wanted to enquire about the institution’s ties to various local universities and how it impacts funding.

However, rather than field my questions, she just tried to eat me. Not very courteous if you ask me…

The museum was also a little confusing and it was hard to navigate at some parts, especially when the undead was chasing me. If you do happen to get eaten here, please do us all a favor and smear an arrow or something on the wall with your blood.

▼ Everyone else just smeared their blood on the surroundings randomly!

Or if you happen to lose an arm, why not make its finger point the way for others who come after you? Everyone else thoughtlessly piled theirs up in a corner.

I tried asking a security guard for assistance but – you guessed it – he tried to eat my brains too. I could easily escape this one though, because he was a sluggish old-school zombie rather than one of those super-fast British zombies. Lucky for me, but not so lucky for the museum’s security.

As we can see, Zombie Museum is really losing points as far as friendly and helpful service goes, but it does make up for this by allowing the customers to get really up close and personal with its exhibits. Whether dead or undead I could go right up to the various corpses and lick them if I wanted.

▼ Whether or not I did lick stays between me and the corpses…

They also had unique zombie specimens on display like this Osaka obachan zombie. Safely behind glass we could observe her as she offered candy to her cellmates and asked them intrusive personal questions. However, when they refused (because they were dead) she began eating their faces.

The corpse room was especially fascinating with some so fresh their eyes were still twitching.

Unfortunately, those were the last decent images I could take, because I went through the entire second half of the museum running from a horde of escaped zombies that had descended upon me.

I don’t remember a lot of it, but one of the zombies in particular caught my attention. The Zombie Museum has, without a doubt, the tallest guy I have ever seen in my life — alive or undead. That zombie alone is worth the visit!

Once I slipped out the exit door and barred it shut, there was a nice gift shop set up full of souvenirs to help us remember our visit lest PTSD tries to suppress those memories. I had my eye on the “Money Lisa” novelty piggy bank (pictured top-left), but unfortunately I had dropped my wallet somewhere in the reanimated meat locker.

In summary, the Zombie Museum has some rough edges to work out: namely, the attempted murder and consumption of its guests. However, it does deliver in interesting exhibits and a fun zombie-filled time for everyone and it’s well worth the price of admission.

“Museum” Information
Zombie Museum
14th Floor Event Hall, North Building, Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store
1-7-1 Osaka Shinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka
大丸心斎橋店北館14Fイベントホール
大阪市中央区心斎橋筋1-7-1
Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Dates: 29 July to 22 August
Adults: 800 yen (US$7.63), High School Students: 600 yen, Children: 300 yen, Pre-Schoolers: Free
Adults and high school students can get 200 yen off by buying tickets in advance.
Website

And if zombies aren’t your bag, a few floors down Daimaru is also holding an exhibit and appearance of The Sapeur (Societe de Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegents) which is a group of ultra-fashionable gentlemen from the Republic of Congo.

Photos & Video: RocketNews24