🇯🇵 Japan: TeamLAB Experience
A must-see when you visit Tokyo & Osaka
🛃 NOW BOARDING 🛃
AKL , NZL > TYO + OSA, JPN
Auckland, New Zealand > Tokyo & Osaka Japan
[8-16 March 2023]
One of the great things about Japan is that it’s a world where traditional sensibilities beautifully intersect with technological advancement.
Both sides involve a great deal of artistry, creativity and innovation. I deeply appreciate everything Japan has on offer — from its temples to its manga — but one of the best finds we added to our trip list came from Mark, and it sat right at that intersection of old and new.
TeamLab is an international art collective formed in 2001 in Tokyo by an interdisciplinary group of artists. It’s a curated experience that lets you take in art through all five senses.
Mark stumbled across it while we were researching places to add to our Japan list, and he thought it was worth checking out. There are two TeamLab venues in Tokyo (TeamLab Borderless and TeamLab Planets) and one in Osaka (TeamLab Botanical Garden). On this trip, which we did back in March 2023, we managed to visit two of them, and we later came back for Borderless on a separate trip.
Here’s a quick overview of each experience we had — and why you should definitely add this to your Japan list.
TeamLab Planets — Toyosu, Tokyo
Open daily, roughly 9am–10pm (last entry one hour before closing; hours shift slightly and there are occasional maintenance days). Originally meant to close in 2020, it has been extended several times and is currently scheduled to run through the end of 2027. Do check the official site before you go.
This was our very first TeamLab experience. Planets has its own dedicated building in Toyosu, Tokyo, and it took us a few train rides to get there. Before going in, we had to remove and store our shoes, and we made sure we’d worn shorts (or at least rolled our pant legs above the ankles) for the installations that involve wading through water. As the name suggests, most of the installations here are inspired by the wonders of nature.
The first few rooms have you wading through water while colourful koi are projected onto the surface, swimming around your feet in a vast dark room where the light shines brilliantly off the water. The animations respond to the people moving through them, so it feels like you’re part of the artwork itself.
From there you find yourself floating in a universe of flowers and mirrored surfaces, or standing in a room full of supersized glowing orbs that change colour every time you touch them. Light cascades across the space alongside ambient, environmental music that turns the whole thing into a grand performance.
A standout is the Floating Flower Garden — a fully mirrored room filled with suspended orchids that creates the illusion of flowers blooming and falling in a seamless, infinite space. It’s beautifully lit and perfect for photos (just be mindful of the other people sharing the exhibit with you).
TeamLab Borderless — Azabudai Hills, Tokyo
Open daily, roughly 9am–9pm (last entry one hour before closing; usually closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month). This is a permanent museum that reopened at Azabudai Hills in February 2024 after relocating from its original Odaiba home — which is why we only caught it on a later trip. Worth confirming hours on the official site.
Unlike Planets, Borderless sits inside the Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo, deep within the business district. As you enter, you’re greeted by a large “Borderless” sign painted to play with perspective.
Borderless is built around different rooms you wander between, and — true to the name — the artworks focus on the boundless nature of art. Each room has its own theme and artists, yet it all feels like one unified experience, with the installations blending and bleeding into each other. (Here you keep your shoes on, by the way.)
The rooms vary in size, with a main hall titled “A Rock where People Gather” connecting them all. The installations transform from cascading water walls to flower petals gracefully drifting down through the space. Approach the walls and the artwork evolves as you draw closer. It’s such an experience. There’s also an infinite room of glass orbs called “Bubble Universe” It feels like you’re encased in a space of water bubbles paused in time, with the light catching them in incredible ways.
Our favourite part is the light show called "The Haze." It's a massive room of choreographed lights that shift into different shapes in time with the beat of the music. It feels like staring into the world of TRON crossed with the eye of a universe, all set to an epic ambient sweeping score that makes the whole thing even more memorable.
TeamLab Botanical Garden — Nagai Park, Osaka
A permanent, night-only open-air exhibition that opened in summer 2022. Because it relies on darkness, opening times shift with the season — generally from early evening (around sunset) until about 9:30pm, with last entry roughly an hour before closing. It runs even in light rain, and there are occasional closure days, so check the official site for the dates you’re visiting.
Unlike the previous two, this TeamLab takes up an entire park. You’ll find it within Nagai Botanical Garden in Osaka, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it — an entire park essentially turned into an art installation. Since it’s a nighttime exhibition, going after dark is the only way to get the full effect of the light installations.
The wonderful thing about this one is that nature isn’t being obscured — it’s complemented, and even enhanced. They use the trees as an extension of how they paint with light, and ambient music plays through speakers nestled throughout the park.
It’s a much bigger walk, since you’ll want to cover the whole garden to fully experience the magic, so I’d suggest wearing comfortable shoes.
My favourite part is the glowing giant ovoids scattered across the park. They look like enormous chrome beans filled with bright light reflecting inside them — incredibly futuristic and out of this world.
By the way, these pictures don't do the experience justice — and I don't actually have many, since I was too busy staring at the mesmerising lights (and let's be honest, I'm terrible at taking photos in the dark).
If you want a fully immersive, all-senses experience in Japan (and yes, a thoroughly touristy one), add TeamLab to your list and go check it out.
明るく輝く！
Redd
Went to Japan 2 years ago and this was the one thing I did wish I go to, will go back and experience it one day.