Tokyo’s appeal is not restricted to run-of-the-mill attractions like museums, water bodies, and flower gardens. For a touristic experience to be memorable, it must be unique and irreplicable—and the largest city on earth knows this all too well. If you’re a novelty-chaser who loves standing in wide-eyed wonder, you will find contentment in teamLab Planets, where natural beauty, art, and technology synthesise to create something completely ethereal.
Created by the Art Collective teamLab, teamLab Planets is a modern art museum in the Toyosu neighbourhood of Koto City, Tokyo, where you don’t just observe art installations with your eyes but become one with them through complete bodily immersion. The museum opened its doors in July 2018 and has enthralled upwards of 1.25 million visitors with its artworks that incorporate water, flowers, realistic projections, and physical art.
As a hopeful first-time visitor, you’re certainly brimming with questions about how to get tickets to teamLab Planets, what you should know before going, how to get there, and how to decide if at all you should visit because—heads up—it might not be for everyone. My blog anticipates and responds to all your queries and highlights some standout exhibits.
If you would like a visual preview of teamLab Planets (spoilers ahead), watch my YouTube video.
Where is teamLab Planets and How to Get There?
teamLab Planets Tokyo sits in Toyosu, Koto City, an accessible and modern area that is well-connected by public transportation like the Yurikamome Line.
Location: 6 Chome-1-16 Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0061, Japan
Opening Hours: 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM JST, Monday to Sunday
It is a 6-minute walk from the Shijō-Mae Station and a light 2-minute walk from the Shin-Toyosu Station.
Tickets for teamLab Planets Tokyo — How to Book, Prices, Opening Hours
Three options present themselves when it comes to teamLab Planets ticket booking:
- Onsite vending machines
Tickets go on sale 2 months beforehand, so purchase your ticket online at the earliest convenience to avoid last-minute disappointments. Demand for teamLab Planets tickets is surging because the Toyosu location is permanently shuttering at the end of 2027.
Check out the ticket price chart and note the changes effective 22 July 2024:
teamLab Planets Ticket Prices | |
Until 21 July 2024 | |
Monday to Friday | |
Adults (18+) | JPY 3,800 |
Teens & Youth (13–17) | JPY 2,800 |
Children (4–12) | JPY 1,500 |
Infants & Toddlers (<3) | Free |
Disability Discount | JPY 1,900 |
Weekends, Holidays, and Special Periods | |
Adults (18+) | JPY 4,200 |
Teens & Youth (13–17) | JPY 2,800 |
Children (4–12) | JPY 1,500 |
Infants & Toddlers (<3) | Free |
Disability Discount | JPY 2,100 |
From 22 July 2024 | |
Adults (18+) | JPY 4,200 |
Teens & Youth (13–17) | JPY 2,800 |
Children (4–12) | JPY 1,500 |
Infants & Toddlers (<3) | Free |
Disability Discount | JPY 2,100 |
Queues are long and tiresome, so if you want to shave off the waiting time, get your tickets from Klook. They cost USD 47, but they are completely worth the extra bucks because they allow you to skip the line, saving you 30 to 90 precious minutes. No-wait tickets are ideal for travellers who want to spend more time exploring attractions and less time waiting outside them for admittance.
How about I tell you that you can save time and money on your teamLab Planets ticket? That’s right. For a sweet 10% off on general admission or express entry tickets, go to Klook and use the code PHATLIFEPROJECT during your checkout.
teamLab Planets is open Monday to Sunday from 9 AM to 10 PM JST. The last entry is at 9 PM (1 hour before closing time). The best time to visit teamLab Planets is Monday to Friday, between 8 PM hours and 10 PM. These hours are the quietest and the least crowded, so they are perfect for crowd-averse folks and those who would rather get clean shots with fewer heads and bodies in them.
Things to Know Before Visiting teamLab Planets Tokyo
Before you hit the road, you’d want to make sure you have all the prerequisites and know everything that you can or cannot carry, so that you get to enjoy without worries. No one will tell you this while booking your tickets, so make sure you take notes.
- Locker Room for Your Bag and Belongings: You can carry your essentials to the venue in a small bag. However, before entering you must check them into a secured locker. But don’t worry – the lockers are very close to the exits, so you don’t have to trudge all the way back to collect your items.
- Clothing & Footwear: You will be asked to take off your shoes and socks, as certain sections of the museum have water. You will also need to fold up long pants or change into free rental shorts provided at the venue. Changing rooms are available in the locker area. Avoid wearing skirts or wide-hemmed pants, as some areas of teamLab Planets have mirrored floors.
- Phones & Cameras are Allowed, Sticks & Stands Aren’t: Of course you wouldn’t want to miss out on the beautiful pictures, would you? Worry not, as smartphones and cameras are allowed inside, although you’d want to take extra care of your devices as you will encounter uneven surfaces, dark spaces, and water. Tripods, monopods, and selfie sticks are not allowed because the museum gets a lot of foot traffic.
- Allocate Ample Time to Enjoy: The 10,000 m2 area comprises 4 large-scale art galleries and 2 gardens that collectively host 7 large-scale artworks. It would take you 2–3 hours to experience the whole thing, so reserve enough time to explore comfortably and unhurriedly.
Highlights of teamLab Planets
Floating Flower Garden
The Floating Flower Garden is definitely one of the exhibits that is sure to leave a mark on you. Not only is it visually stunning, with flowers suspended above and around you, but you can also smell the aroma as you go closer, which takes your sensory experience to a whole new level. Walled by mirrors, the exhibit gives you the illusion of expanding infinitely. Without giving much away, I recommend you take your sweet time to check out this space.
Dance of Koi Pond
This next one is a breathtaking artwork that combines water, sensors, computer graphics, and light shows. Visitors will be able to see luminous koi fish floating into infinity while walking through this space. The fish also change their direction upon interacting with the visitors. When they collide, the fish burst into flower petals, which vary by season. I mean, how cool is that?!
Falling Universe of Flowers
If you’re in for a trippy adventure that’ll boggle your mind, this is it. Entering the Falling Universe of Flowers will make you feel as if you’re inside a globe with spinning walls of flowers. The flowers are generated by a computer program in real time and keep changing throughout the year according to the season. This installation is best experienced lying down as you can watch the flowers magically bloom, grow, and wilt without craning your neck.
Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo
If you’re hungry after the experience, you can make a beeline for the Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo in the teamLab Planets plaza. Besides the UZU-style Vegan MISO Ramen, the menu consists of vegan ice cream, vegan muffins, hot and cold drinks, as well as soft drinks. You can sit down to eat at this restaurant even if you weren’t visiting teamLab Planets.
teamLab Planets — Not for Everyone?
Before ending, I’d like to focus on an aspect of teamLab Planets that is not discussed often.
- While it offers a boundless, immersive experience with multi-level interaction, certain sections may not be suitable for some visitors. For example, the first part of the tour requires you to walk up an inclined river, which will present a challenge for elders, children, or those with mobility issues. If you belong to any of these groups, you may want to think twice before deciding to go.
- The dark spaces, uneven surfaces, and soft floors also pose a risk to those who are physically constrained, or those visiting with children.
Alternatively, teamLab Borderless, the other teamLab museum on the Azadurai Hills in Tokyo, has no water-based experiences and is suitable for babies, elders, and the differently abled. However, that does not make teamLab Borderless inferior to teamLab Planets in any way.
If you want to consider both options before settling on one, I have a video and a blog where I cover the similarities and differences between the two venues.
Endnote
If you’ve read this far, well done! You’re all ready to visit teamLab Planets to immerse yourself in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Whether it is the Floating Garden, the Koi Pond, the Moss Garden, or the Crystal Universe, it is surely going to become one of your core memories. For all other worries about tickets, timings, highlights, or anything else, feel free to come back to this comprehensive guide or hit my YouTube video.
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