Meiji University Torture Museum

Yes, I know. This picture of me posing in front of a crucifix upon which Japanese prisoners were impaled from waist to shoulder on both sides is of questionable taste. But it shows how happy I am to be at such an interesting exhibit!
 The Meiji University grounds are host to a museum showcasing anthropology and the evolution of the human condition. I'm sure the administration wouldn't be too happy if the place became known as the Torture Museum, but really, the rest of the stuff has been seen and done before.

In a nutshell, the criminology section of the museum, located in the basement, holds replicas of items used for torture (and execution, I guess, since you won't get to use that guillotine on the same guy twice.) It's pretty grizzly to look at, and there are very few explanations in English, but you really do get a sense of what each contraption was used for, with the help of some disturbing-ass traditional wood-block paintings on the walls, showing people getting maimed or crushed or dismembered or beheaded or whatnot. Just another day in feudal Japan, I guess.
 The museum's collection is pretty sizable, with items such as the aforementioned guillotine, the iron maiden (pictured), blocks used to crush legs, scaffolds for hanging people (with or without killing them) or burning them alive, a variety of spiked rods, displays for the heads of the recently executed, etc.
 However, keep in mind that this is only one section of the museum, and you'll probably be through with it after an hour or so.

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page about torture being a big no-no, the museum also has merchandise! A great way to cash in on people's fascination for the ultimate misery of others! Oh come on, let's be frank, if your museum's official shirt has an iron maiden on it, then you're kind of acknowledging that the most interesting thing there is to see is an apparatus with which people made Swiss cheese out of other people. No More Torture! But look how cool this thing is!