Hidden in the hills of Ito, Maboroshi Hakurankai is part museum, part fever dream. It’s a maze of mannequins, taxidermy, Showa-era erotica, and decaying pop-culture relics spread across five greenhouse-like rooms and outdoor corridors. The collection feels suspended between worlds: half post-war nostalgia, half Lynchian nightmare.
The space has been open for over 15 years and is run by Sailor-chan, a pixie-like curator who seems to belong to the museum as much as the displays themselves. Every item inside has been donated, adding to its sense of accidental storytelling — a place built from other people’s forgotten obsessions.
Wax children stare from broken classrooms, skeletons wear wigs, and something about the place lingers. You laugh, take a few photos, and leave feeling like it followed you home.