One’s barefoot in water, the other’s a maze in the dark. You only need to pick one.
Tokyo has two teamLab museums, and they are not the same experience twice. teamLab Planets in Toyosu is the barefoot, walk-through-water one. teamLab Borderless in Azabudai Hills is the shoes-on maze you wander until you lose the exit. They split cleanly enough that the real decision is which one fits your trip. So we’ll make the call, then cover how to book each, get there, and turn up dressed right.
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⚡️ TL;DR: teamLab Tokyo at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| The two venues | teamLab Planets (Toyosu) · teamLab Borderless (Azabudai Hills) |
| Which to pick | Planets for first-timers, kids, and the water photos; Borderless to get lost in a bigger space |
| Tickets from | Planets ~3,600 JPY (~S$29) · Borderless ~3,800 JPY (~S$30), both dynamic, book ahead |
| Hours | Planets 9 AM–10 PM · Borderless ~10 AM–9 PM (varies by date; last entry 1 hour before close) |
| Time needed | ~1.5–2 hours each; about half a day if you do both |
| Heads up | Planets is barefoot and wet; Borderless keeps shoes on. Planets closes at the end of 2027 |
| Pay with | YouTrip: hold JPY, 0% FX online, first S$400/month of ATM cash free |
Table Of Contents
- What Is teamLab, and Why the Fuss?
- How Many teamLab Museums Are There in Tokyo?
- teamLab Planets vs Borderless: Which Should You Pick?
- teamLab Tokyo Tickets and Prices
- How to Get to teamLab Tokyo
- Best Time to Visit and How Long to Spend
- What to Wear, Lockers, and Photography
- What to Do Near teamLab Planets and Borderless
- Paying for Tokyo Without Losing Money on the Rate
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is teamLab and Why the Fuss?
teamLab is a Tokyo art collective that makes digital art you walk into, not art you stand and look at. Rooms respond to your presence. Flowers bloom and scatter as you move, water carries projected koi that turn into flowers when you touch them, and mirrors stretch the light in every direction.
The pull is real, not just marketing. teamLab Planets holds the Guinness World Record for the most-visited museum dedicated to a single art group, with just over 2.5 million visitors in a single year (April 2023 to March 2024). It’s one of the few Tokyo attractions where the queue outside is mostly people trying to get a slot, not people who forgot to book.
A fair warning before you plan around it: this is a photo-first, sensory experience, not a museum with plaques to read. If you want quiet and context, the crowds and raised phones will get in the way. If you’re happy to just wander and let it wash over you, it earns the hype.
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How Many teamLab Museums Are There in Tokyo?
There are two teamLab museums in Tokyo, and they’re on opposite sides of the city.
teamLab Planets, Toyosu
The barefoot one. You roll up your trousers and wade through water, cross a room of hanging orchids, and lie under mirrored ceilings. It sits in Toyosu, near the fish market, and it’s the more famous of the two on Singaporean feeds. A January 2025 expansion grew it by about half again, adding an Athletics Forest, a kids’ Future Park, and a tiny six-seat glass-house bar serving tea and sake among floating orchids.
teamLab Borderless, Azabudai Hills
Image Credits: Klook
The maze one. No fixed route, no map, no signs. Artworks drift between rooms and spill down the walls, so no two visits look the same. It reopened in February 2024 inside Azabudai Hills, the shiny new complex built around Japan’s tallest building.
Beyond Tokyo, there’s also a permanent teamLab in Osaka and a large new one that opened in Kyoto in late 2025, so if you’re chaining cities you don’t have to fit everything into one stop.
📖 Related Guide: Heading Tokyo to Osaka to Kyoto? Our JR Pass 2026 guide does the maths on whether the rail pass is worth it.
teamLab Planets vs Borderless: Which Should You Pick?
If you only have time for one, pick teamLab Planets, especially on a first Tokyo trip, with kids, or if you’re there for the photos everyone recognises. Pick Borderless if you’d rather explore at your own pace, you’ve already done Planets, or someone in your group uses a wheelchair.
The two, side by side:
| teamLab Planets | teamLab Borderless | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Toyosu (Shin-Toyosu Stn, 1 min) | Azabudai Hills (Kamiyacho Stn, 2 min) |
| The experience | Barefoot, walk through water, fixed route | Shoes on, no map, wander and get lost |
| Signature moment | Floating Flower Garden, mirrored koi water | Bubble Universe, Forest of Resonating Lamps |
| Time inside | ~1.5–2 hours | ~2–3 hours |
| Crowd feel | Structured, moves you along | Open, roam freely, busier rooms queue |
| Adult ticket | from ~3,600 JPY (~S$29) | from ~3,800 JPY (~S$30) |
| Open until | End of 2027 (temporary) | Permanent |
Pick teamLab Planets If…
Image Credits: Tripadvisor; Klook
You want the version that photographs like the brochure. The barefoot walk through knee-deep water, the room of real orchids hanging over your head, the mirrored floor doubling every light: these are the shots you’ve seen. It’s a set route, so it holds a group’s attention and wraps in about 90 minutes to two hours, which is easier with children and tighter schedules.
There’s one more reason to lean Planets, and it’s a deadline. Planets is a temporary venue, currently confirmed only until the end of 2027. Borderless is permanent. If you’re choosing between them and might not be back in Tokyo for a few years, do the one with an expiry date first.
Best for: first-timers, families, and anyone who wants the water-and-flowers photos everyone comes for before the venue closes.
Pick teamLab Borderless If…
Image Credits: teamLab
You’d rather lose yourself than follow a line. Borderless is bigger and deliberately disorienting, with drifting artworks and no set path, so you can stay as long as you like and double back on rooms you loved. The Bubble Universe, an infinity room of light-filled spheres, and the Forest of Resonating Lamps are the standouts, and there’s a tea house where a digital flower blooms in your cup as you drink.
It’s also the more accessible choice. There’s no water and you keep your shoes on, so it’s far easier for wheelchair users, older visitors, and anyone who’d rather not go barefoot.
Best for: repeat visitors, slow explorers, wheelchair users, and anyone who prefers wandering to queuing on a route.
Doing Both in One Trip
You can, and it isn’t a waste. They share teamLab’s DNA, but the formats barely overlap: one is physical and wet, the other is visual and dry. Budget roughly half a day for each, ideally on different days so you’re not rushing across the city, and expect the second one to feel less surprising than the first.
📖 Related Guide: Want more of Tokyo’s greatest hits? Our 33 best things to do in Kyoto is the next-city companion if you’re going further.
teamLab Tokyo Tickets and Prices
Both museums use timed-entry tickets you book in advance, and both use dynamic pricing, so the exact fare shifts with the date and slot. Weekends, cherry-blossom season, and public holidays cost more and sell out first.
Rough 2026 prices, before you factor in the day you pick:
- teamLab Planets (adult, 18+): from around 3,600 JPY (~S$29), rising to about 4,200 JPY (~S$34) on peak days
- teamLab Borderless (adult, 18+): from around 3,800 JPY (~S$30), up to about 5,600 JPY (~S$45) on busy dates
- Teens (junior/senior high): around 2,800 JPY (~S$22) at both
- Children (4–12): 1,500 JPY (~S$12); under 3 go free
The yen has been sitting near a multi-year low against the Singapore dollar through 2026, so in real terms these tickets are cheaper for Singaporeans than they’ve been in years.
Booking Direct vs Booking on Klook
teamLab Planets sells official tickets through its DMM store, and Borderless sells through the official teamLab site. Both are the safest source for the real price and the full choice of time slots. Klook also sells both to Singapore travellers, at roughly the same price, sometimes a touch cheaper with a promo code, and you get a QR ticket by email. Either works; just don’t leave it to the gate.
When to Book (and Why Planets Sells Out)
Book as early as you can. The calendar usually opens about two months ahead, and Planets in particular is more likely to be sold out on the day than not. For a weekend or holiday visit, treat advance booking as compulsory and aim for an opening-hour slot to dodge the worst of the crowds.
💡 Pro tip: Tickets are paid online in yen, which is exactly the moment your card’s exchange rate matters. Pay with a card that charges the wholesale rate and no foreign transaction fee, and you keep the few dollars a bank card would quietly skim on the conversion.
📖 Related Guide: Wondering if now’s a good time to buy yen? Our SGD to Yen 2026 guide breaks down the rate and whether to convert now.
How to Get to teamLab Tokyo
Image Credits: Tripadvisor
The two venues are on opposite ends of the city, so plan around the one you booked, not “teamLab” in general.
Getting to teamLab Planets (Toyosu)
teamLab Planets is a one-minute walk from Shin-Toyosu Station on the Yurikamome line, with the building right in front of the exit. If you’re on the metro instead, Toyosu Station (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho line) is about a 10-minute walk. From Shibuya, allow roughly 40 to 50 minutes: take the JR Yamanote line, change to the Hibiya line for Toyosu, then hop one stop on the Yurikamome to Shin-Toyosu.
- Address: 6-1-16 Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0061
- In Japanese (for the taxi driver): 東京都江東区豊洲6-1-16
Getting to teamLab Borderless (Azabudai Hills)
teamLab Borderless sits in the basement of Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B, about a two-minute walk from Kamiyacho Station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya line, Exit 5) or four minutes from Roppongi-itchome Station (Namboku line). It’s in the heart of the Roppongi and Azabudai area, so it’s easy to fold into a day around central Tokyo.
- Address: Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B, B1F, 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- In Japanese: 東京都港区麻布台1-2-4 麻布台ヒルズ ガーデンプラザB B1F
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Best Time to Visit and How Long to Spend
Plan for about 1.5 to 2 hours at Planets and 2 to 3 hours at Borderless, longer if you’re the type to photograph every room. Neither puts a clock on you once you’re inside; the timed ticket only controls when you enter.
For the quietest visit, book the first slot of the day on a weekday. Crowds build through the afternoon and peak on weekends and holidays, and the busiest rooms (the Lamp Forest at Borderless, the water rooms at Planets) form small queues at peak times. Early entry also means cleaner photos before the rooms fill up.
Both are indoors and climate-controlled, so rain, summer heat, or winter cold don’t matter, which makes teamLab a smart backup for a day the weather turns.
📖 Related Guide: Got a spare day around Tokyo? Our Things to Do in Uji day trip guide is an easy add-on if you’re heading toward Kyoto.
What to Wear, Lockers, and Photography
This is where the two venues split hardest, so dress for the one you booked.
At teamLab Planets, you go barefoot, and the water reaches knee height on adults, so it’s near waist-deep on small kids. Wear light, quick-drying clothes and shorts or trousers you can roll above the knee. Skip long skirts, and know that a few rooms have mirrored floors, so short skirts aren’t ideal either. If you’re caught out, the venue lends rollable shorts for free in a wide range of sizes; just ask staff before the water rooms.
At teamLab Borderless, you keep your shoes on and stay dry, so there’s no outfit drama. The one catch is the mirrored floors: wear shorts or trousers, since short skirts and dresses get awkward over the reflective surfaces. Comfortable shoes help, since you’ll walk a lot in dim, uneven spaces.
A few practicalities that apply to both:
- Lockers are free for shoes and bags, so you’re not carrying anything through
- Photos and video are fine and encouraged; just no tripods or selfie sticks
- Under-3s enter free, and there’s no upper age limit; both are properly family-friendly
- Strollers can’t go inside either venue (park them outside or in the cloakroom); a baby carrier is the fix
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What to Do Near teamLab Planets and Borderless
Both museums sit next to somewhere worth building the rest of your afternoon around, so you’re not making a special trip for 90 minutes.
Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, Next to Planets
Image Credits: Massa S. on Google Reviews
About a 10-minute walk from Planets, or one stop on the Yurikamome, Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai opened in February 2024 beside the Toyosu fish market and is the best answer to “what else is near teamLab Planets.” It’s built like an Edo-period street, with about 70 food stalls doing fresh seafood rice bowls, made-to-order sushi, grilled skewers, and tamagoyaki.
Upstairs is an onsen, the Tokyo Toyosu Manyo Club, with open-air baths looking over Tokyo Bay. Museum, market lunch, hot spring, all in one stop.
Azabudai Hills, Around Borderless
Image Credits: Tripadvisor
Borderless is inside Azabudai Hills, a 2023 development with around 150 shops and restaurants, so you can eat and browse without going anywhere. There’s a market food hall for a quick bite, Michelin-level sushi if you’re splurging, and the Sky Lobby on the 33rd floor for a close-up view of Tokyo Tower. The central garden plaza is a good place to reset before or after the sensory overload downstairs.
📖 Related Guide: Osaka next on the itinerary? Our Shinkansen Tokyo to Osaka guide has fares, trains, and the cheaper alternatives.
Paying for Tokyo Without Losing Money on the Rate
Tokyo takes cards, and IC-card taps almost everywhere now, but the small stuff (a shrine charm, a market skewer, an older ramen counter) still runs on cash. Two things cover you.
For everyday spending, tap the YouTrip card. Yen is one of the currencies you can hold and lock in the app, so you can fix your rate before you fly, and every tap is charged at the Mastercard wholesale rate with no foreign transaction fee. That beats a credit card quietly adding around 3% FX on each overseas swipe, and it’s the same card you’d use to book those teamLab tickets online.
For cash, skip the money changer at home and withdraw yen from an ATM when you land. The 7-Eleven machines are everywhere and take foreign cards. Your first S$400 of overseas ATM withdrawals each month is free with YouTrip, then a flat 2% after that.
Why not the money changer? It doesn’t charge a visible fee; it just bakes a markup of a few percent into the rate, which is the quiet cost you avoid. Not sure it all works over there? Our guide on whether YouTrip works in Japan has the full breakdown.
📖 Related Guide: Need cash logistics? Our Japan ATM withdrawal guide lists the fee-free machines and the exact withdrawal steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if you go in expecting a photo-first, immersive art experience rather than a traditional museum. The rooms are genuinely unlike anything else, and tickets sit around S$29 to S$45. The main catch is crowds at peak times, which is why an early weekday slot is worth booking.
For most first-time visitors, Planets. It has the barefoot water-and-flowers rooms everyone photographs, works well with kids, wraps in about two hours, and is only confirmed open until the end of 2027. Choose Borderless if you’d rather wander a bigger space at your own pace, or if anyone in your group needs step-free, shoes-on access.
Yes. Photos and video are allowed and encouraged at both venues, though tripods and selfie sticks aren’t permitted. At Planets, a phone in a waterproof pouch is smart for the water rooms.
Yes. Both use timed-entry tickets and regularly sell out, Planets especially. The calendar opens roughly two months ahead, so book as early as you can for weekends and holidays rather than relying on same-day tickets.
It’s very kid-friendly, and under-3s enter free. Planets is the easier pick for young children thanks to the water play and open rooms. Strollers can’t go inside either venue, so bring a baby carrier, and watch small children in the knee-deep water at Planets.
Yes. There’s a permanent teamLab in Osaka and a large new one that opened in Kyoto in late 2025, so you can catch a teamLab beyond Tokyo if your trip runs across cities.
Go Barefoot Before the Water Runs Out
Image Credits: teamLab
Two museums, one clear call: do Planets for the barefoot, walk-on-water rooms, and add Borderless if you’d rather get pleasantly lost. Book ahead, turn up in shorts you can roll, and let the rooms do their thing.
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