teamLab Borderless Tokyo: Does it live up to the hype?
Having visited digital installations based on the work of Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo in the UK, I couldn’t wait to visit Tokyo’s digital art museum. But having become something of a magnet for Instagrammers, I was worried whether teamLab Borderless would live up to the hype.
Warning: Our photos from teamLab Borderless really didn’t come out very well due to the low light and the ever-changing artwork so I’ve tried to link to official teamLab Borderless You Tube videos where possible
We visited teamLab Borderless as part of our jampacked 9 day visit to Japan, exploring Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. You can view all the rest of my Japan content here – and there’s a lot to share!
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What is teamLab Borderless?
teamLab Borderless is an immersive digital art museum where the art constantly shifts and changes, seeping between the maze of corridors and rooms. In fact, visitors are fully encouraged to interact with the art. There are around 50 pieces, spread over 10,000 square metres.
teamLab Borderless is located in Azabudai Hills in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, at the Mori Building Digital Art Museum. The entrance is in the basement of the Garden Plaza and it’s well-signposted once inside the building. The nearest station is Kamiyacho Station on the Hibiya Line, a couple of minutes walk from teamLab Borderless. We jumped on the Marunouchi Line from Shinjuku Station, and connected to the Hibiya Line at Kasumigaseki. The Mori Building is just a couple of minutes walk from the station.
Borderless isn’t the only teamLab installation in Tokyo. TeamLab Planets, located at Toyosu, is smaller but follows a more linear route. It’s themed around gardens and water – which does require taking off your shoes for a truly interactive sensory experience. To be honest, wading through calf-high water in November didn’t appeal which is why I chose Borderless out of the two.
If you have more time in the area, you can pair a visit to teamLabs Borderless with the second tallest structure in Tokyo. If the 333m tall Tokyo Tower looks familiar, it was inspired by the Eiffel Tower (no, not Blackpool Tower) and was built in 1958 as a symbol of economic prosperity and hope after WWII. Tokyo Tower is a 10 minute walk from teamLab Borderless. Tickets cost ¥1500 for main deck admission, or ¥3500 for the top deck including an audio tour and skip-the-line access.
Our teamLab Borderless experience
I booked our teamLab Borderless tickets direct through the teamLab website, a month prior to our visit. Even four weeks before many of the morning sessions were already fully booked. I’ve seen a LOT of people recommending an early morning visit, which might explain the surge of popularity. That suggests it won’t be the quietest time to go for much longer. Instead, I went for the other end of the day, with a 6:30pm timeslot. This would still give us two and a half hours before closing time.
💹 Our tickets were 4,600JPY per person (approximately £23). Ticket prices do vary depending on the day/date you wish to visit but they are between ¥3,600-¥5,600 (£18-£28). There is also a more expensive flexible ticket available 💹
I worried a little about Teamlab Borderless being overcrowded, and the queue when we arrived did little to dispel that anxiety. Yet once inside, and once everyone had shuffled their way from the initial room, we found ourselves with plenty of space. The beauty of Borderless being well, literally without borders, is that you can spend as much or as little time in a room as you want, and you can also return and get a completely different experience. I’m definitely glad we went later in the day though, and the crowds definitely thinned out even more over the two hours we were there.
Top tip: Pop your items in a locker BEFORE you join the queue to enter or you’ll end up carrying them round with you. There are no lockers once you’ve passed the admission gates. Something we found out, once we’d passed the admission gates 🤦♀️
Our favourite teamLab Borderless spaces
A field of lily pads graze our shins as projections dance across the top
Backstage at the bowling alley. Spheres move on an infinite track
Ocean critters
Evil frogs and bunnies take over the corridors – like Watership Down but with EXTRA nightmares
This hypnotizing mirrored room filled with floor-to-ceiling LED string lights which dance along with the soundtrack
The perfect space to sit and take everything in
I was confident we had managed to see all the artwork, but after giving it some thought after we left I realised we never found Bubble Universe. That’s the one on all the posters. I still don’t know where you go to draw your own sea creatures for Sketch Ocean. Some rooms we would have liked to return to, yet we never found them again. Other rooms we came upon multiple times. Doors would seem to emerge out of nowhere, thanks to clever placement of mirrors and light. I lost Mr Fletche several times. One time I found him amusing himself by putting his head “through” a wall.
The museum encompasses over 10,000 square feet of digital art, and words – and certainly my photos – don’t do it justice. An ambient soundtrack has been curated to create a full sensory experience – you can even find the soundtrack on Spotify.
This experience might not be for everyone. Although there are plenty of moments of calm and reflection, it can be over-stimulating at times, with bright flashing lights and rapidly changing visuals. At times it can feel like you’re in a giant screensaver. We made sure that we found time to sit where we could – the Infinite Crystal World is the best place for this.
Useful teamLab Borderless Info
Opening Times
Open every day from 8:30am-9pm. Check opening times on website for exceptions and for last entry (usually one hour before closing time).
Admission & Buying Tickets
You can purchase tickets on the offical website or via Klook. Tickets go on sale online two months before each date; popular times sell out quickly but we found plenty of time slots available if you can be flexible. Timeslots are booked with a 30 minute arrival window. If you book via the teamLabs website then changes can be made up to 3 times prior to entry
The best times to visit are the first slots of the day, or around two hours before closing. Midweek is less busy than weekends. You may need to queue for entry so aim to arrive 15 minutes before your allotted time slot. We visited on a Wednesday evening at 6:30pm, and stayed until just before closing time at 9pm
Essential tips for visiting teamLab Borderless
- If you want to fully immerse yourself in the art, where something black or white, and don’t wear anything heavily patterned.
- There are plenty of mirrored floors so avoid short skirts!
- Large bags aren’t permitted so wear something with pockets for your phone
- There are intense flashing lights, something to be aware if you’re sensitive to bright lights or rapid visual stimuli
- Download the teamLab app for additional information about the artwork in each room
- teamLab Borderless is accessible although a few rooms do have uneven flooring
is teamLab Borderless worth it?
I highly recommend a visit to teamLab Borderless, especially if you can book an evening session when there are fewer crowds. We loved the fact that we could return to a room and get a totally different experience, and could just pause to reflect and watch what was going on around us. It’s an excellent way to add a bit of art and culture into your trip, even if you’re not a culture vulture or art enthusiast. In fact, it’s a perfect solo, family OR couple experience!
If it had been busier it may not have been such a pleasant experience. I can see why it would be popular with the Instagram/YouTube crowd – people who I hope have much better cameras than me – and although there were a few impromptu photo-shoots going on no-one appeared to be hogging the best spots. Unlike me, here, sitting in this spot (yes, with all my belongings because we missed the lockers) for the best part of 15 minutes:
Buy your teamLab Borderless tickets here or here!
I try my hardest to keep the information in this travel guide up to date; however if you notice anything has changed please let me know! Happy travels, Emmalene
I really enjoyed reading this detailed review of the immersive digital art experience at teamLab Borderless. The way you described the constantly changing installations, mirrored rooms, and interactive exhibits makes it sound like stepping into another world. Your practical tips about booking tickets early and visiting later in the day are especially helpful. This post definitely makes me want to add this unique Tokyo attraction to my travel bucket list! ✨🌏
The museum features dozens of interactive digital artworks spread across a large space where projections and installations constantly change and move between rooms, creating a “borderless” art experience.
You know, I think you’re onto something booking an evening slot! We ended up with a slightly awkward day because we had the Studio Ghibli museum in the afternoon, but if I’d booked Borderless for an evening then we’d have had a bit more daytime for something else. The layout was definitely confusing – I’m still not convinced we saw everything, either. But still a brilliant experience!