MAKE: Blog: Gensou Hyouhon Hakubutsukan ("Museum of Fantastic Specimens")

Gensou Hyouhon Hakubutsukan ("Museum of Fantastic Specimens")

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Pink Tentacle writes -

Gensou Hyouhon Hakubutsukan ("Museum of Fantastic Specimens") is an online collection of creatures "curated" by Hajime Emoto. The three-story virtual museum consists of 9 rooms chock full of water- and land-dwelling monstrosities from all corners of the globe. Each specimen has a clickable thumbnail that links to additional photos and historical and background information (in Japanese). The basement contains a bookshop and a cafeteria serving dishes prepared with some of the beasts featured in the museum (such as umiushi sashimi, served fresh from the tank and wriggling on your plate, with a balsamic vinegar sauce).

All of the creatures showcased in the museum are sculpted from paper, modeling paste and bamboo and are completely imaginary, claims Emoto -- perhaps a disappointment for hunters of the legendary tsuchinoko (center-right in the photo above) in search of an actual specimen, but an amazing collection of critters nonetheless.

Gensou Hyouhon Hakubutsukan ("Museum of Fantastic Specimens") - [via] Link.

Follow the translated guide (unless you read Japanese) - Link.

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: simplebot on August 28, 2007 at 9:47 AM

Thank you thank you for posting this! I saw this a few years ago, and could not remember what it was called and my web searching was fruitless. These things are great!

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