Unko Museum: The Kawaii Poop Experience

Overview

Pastels and poop. Step inside Unko Museum: The Kawaii Poop Experience and that's what awaits. The colour scheme is soft and soothing, but the point of focus is literal crap (well, fake versions). If you've ever called something "cute shit" before, those words have never applied quite as they will here.

This Japanese-style installation takes its cues from not only Japan's kawaii poop trend, but from the Unko Museum's sites across the nation, including in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Shizuoka. Now, Unko Museum is making its Australian debut in Melbourne — originally slated to open in December 2023, but now adding some adorable crap to summer from Wednesday, January 17, 2024.

The focus: "max unko kawaii", aka "the maximum cuteness of poop". Also one of the mains attractions: getting everyone taking snaps and filling their social-media feeds, so expect a heap of pastel emoji-esque shit to fill Instagram.

Unko Museum: The Kawaii Poop Experience is split into zones and areas, spanning displays to take pictures of and other inclusions that are more immersive. Think: images of poop projected around the place, snapping selfies with poop props and flying poop, and retro-style games with a poop theme in a space called the Crappy Game Corner.

Pastel-hued toilets are also a feature, lined up along a wall under a sign calling them "my unko maker". So are neon poop signs, giant poops, a ball pit where the balls are shaped like poops, poop hats, walls filled with toilet seats, glowing poop lights and a towering toilet-shaped doorway. Plus, exiting through the gift shop here means picking up kawaii poop merchandise and souvenirs.

In Japan, as at October 2023, 1.4-million people had flushed the interactive experience into their itineraries. In Australia, Melburnians and tourists who now want to add some poo to their next Victorian visit can expect to spend 30–60 minutes revelling in endearing crap, in a family-friendly experience — because poop is for everyone.