Chantal Fouad

DUBAI: A struggling museum just outside of downtown Tokyo, Meguro Parasitological Museum experiences an unforeseen turn of events after Bill Gates’ sudden visit.

The Meguro Parasitological Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to parasites solely.

It tends to go unnoticed by tourists as its location is not in the centre of downtown Tokyo; it is located approximately 1 kilometre away from the nearest metro station.

The museum has been opened since 1953 and since then it has been offering free admission to all visitors; the museum relies on donations to cover its costs and expenses.

Like many businesses that greatly got affected by the pandemic, Meguro Parasitological Museum was no exception; after the consequences of COVID-19 began to impact the society and economy, Meguro Parasitological Museum started sending out requests for donations.

The museum operated as a non-profit charitable organization that is why it depends on donations to cover its costs.

They’ve greatly struggled to collect enough donations and hence were only able to gather half the amount they need to cover their annual costs.

The museum’s fate completely turned around after one random visit from an iconic figure, Bill Gates.

During his visit in September, Gates shared a twitter post of him inside the museum looking at the world’s longest tapeworm.

I’m at my happiest when I’m learning – no matter how gross the subject matter. Today, I experienced the Meguro Parasitological Museum in Tokyo, and saw what is believed to be the world’s longest tapeworm. 10/10 would visit again. pic.twitter.com/pMsHSswSBM

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) August 19, 2022

Gates’s tweet reached his 60.3 million followers resulting in a surge in views and donations allowing the museum to collect much more than it needs to cover its costs; they of course credited this to Gates’s visit calling it the Bill Gates effect.