Must-Visit teamLab Locations in Japan
If you’re planning to travel Japan, we hope you’ve heard of teamLab by now! Their immersive museum teamLab Planets TOKYO smashed the world record this year for most-visited museum by a single artist. But did you know that teamLab in Japan is so much more than the Tokyo museums?
We don’t think that anyone traveling Japan should miss interacting with a teamLab artwork. If you can get advance tickets teamLab in Tokyo, great! But the magic of teamLab isn't confined to the capital. If you miss your chance at Tokyo, or won’t be visiting, we’re here to introduce their other amazing installations, from a botanical garden in Osaka to a reimagined bathhouse in Saga Prefecture.
Who are teamLab?
teamLab (with a small “t”), is an international art collective founded in 2001, known for its groundbreaking work at the intersection of art, science, technology, and nature. Based in Japan, they comprise a diverse team of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, and architects from around the world.
Where to see teamLab in Japan
There are different teamLab exhibitions happening throughout Japan, some are limited time while others are permanent. Here are some of the exhibitions that are worth visiting.
teamLab in Tokyo
teamLab Planets Tokyo
Conveniently located next to Shin-Toyosu Station, teamLab Planets offers an intimate encounter with the collective's iconic art that utilizes digital technology. Despite housing just a handful of installations, the museum spans an impressive 10,000 square meters, giving each exhibit room to breathe and truly come to life.
In 2021, teamLab Planets added an onsite vegan ramen restaurant and introduced a new Garden Area that seamlessly blends nature and interactive technology with two additional installations. Initially set to close at the end of 2023, the museum will now remain open until the end of 2027!
Where
Toyosu (Tokyo)
Address
teamLab Planets TOKYO, Toyosu 6-1-16, Koto-ku, Tokyo (map)
teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM
teamLab Borderless is situated in the new development Azabudai Hills. This massive art museum is designed to break down the borders between art and observer, creating an endless world of interconnected artworks.
Borderless is an ever-evolving "museum without a map" where the artworks defy traditional boundaries as they interact with visitors and one another. The art is in constant motion, seamlessly transforming the space around you. True to its name, "Borderless" offers a limitless, fluid experience where the environment and art flow together in a continuous, border-defying spectacle.
Where
Azabudai (Tokyo)
Address
Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza B B1, 5-9 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo (map)
Galaxy & teamLab: Catching and Collecting in the Sea of Life
Step into a magical digital forest in this collaboration between teamLab and Galaxy. This interactive experience invites you to "catch" various digital creatures using an app on a Galaxy smartphone, allowing you to study them before releasing them back into their virtual habitat.
Approach these digital critters with care — they may flee if you get too close! If you're lucky, they might turn towards you with curiosity. Your goal is to capture them on your screen by aiming your phone and releasing a "Study Arrow" in their direction. You can even team up with other visitors to shepherd the digital dinosaurs projected on the ground, making it easier to capture them with your Study Net. After studying your newfound digital friends, you can release them back into the enchanted forest.
Where
Harajuku (Tokyo)
Address
Galaxy Harajuku, 1-8-9 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (map)
teamLab in Osaka
teamLab: Botanical Garden Osaka
Located in the Nagai Botanical Garden in Osaka’s Higashisumiyoshi ward, this nighttime art experience is part of Nagai Park’s recent renewal project. The installations highlight the area's flora, transforming the garden into a luminous wonderland after dark. Among the exhibits is a camellia garden adorned with ovoid sculptures that shimmer in the daylight and glow with vibrant colors at night, creating an enchanting atmosphere that immerses visitors in the beauty of nature.
Where
Osaka City (Osaka)
Address
Nagai Botanical Garden, 1-23 Nagaikoen, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka (map)
teamLab in Kyushu
teamLab Forest Fukuoka
Much like the Galaxy & teamLab exhibition in Tokyo, teamLab Forest in Fukuoka invites you to explore a digital landscape filled with creatures waiting to be discovered. Capture and study these virtual beings with your smartphone, creating your own digital collection book.
For those looking for more physical engagement, the Athletics Forest exhibition offers a range of activities. You can test your agility on the Rapidly Rotating Bouncing Spheres in the Caterpillar House or challenge your balance on the Balance Stepping Stones in the Invisible World, navigating through a terrain in a space that fuses art with physical movement.
Where
Fukuoka City (Fukuoka)
Address
BOSS E・ZO FUKUOKA 5F, 2 Chome-2-6 Jigyohama, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka (map)
teamLab: Ruins and Heritage Rinkan Spa & Tea Ceremony - GC
One of teamLab’s most distinctive exhibitions, this one is somewhat remote, but absolutely amazing. At the hot-spring town of Takeo Onsen in Saga Prefecture, is teamLab Ruins and Heritage: Rinkan Spa & Tea Ceremony.
The artwork is nestled within the historic Mifuneyama Rakuen, a vast 500,000-square-meter site that includes a garden, an Edo-period teahouse, and a modern hot spring resort, all set against a mountainous backdrop.
The teamLab Ruins and Heritage: Rinkan Spa & Tea Ceremony features stunning installations within the indoor spaces, including Megaliths in the Bath House Ruins, where three-dimensional structures emerge from the ground inside an abandoned bathhouse, brought to life through intricate digital visuals.
During the warmer months, the surrounding sacred forest becomes the setting for another amazing outdoor exhibition. From July to November, projection mapping transforms the landscape, illuminating ponds, rocks, and waterfalls with ethereal light displays.
Where
Mifuneyama Rakuen (Saga)
Address
Mifuneyama Rakuen, 4100 Takeo, Takeo-cho, Takeo City, Saga (map)
Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel
If you’re visiting the teamLab exhibition at Mifuneyama Rakuen, be sure to stop by the Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel. The hotel lobby is home to Forest and Spiral of Resonating Lamps, a permanent teamLab installation where the colors of the lamps shift with the seasons — expect cherry blossom hues in spring and rich autumnal reds later in the year.
Where
Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel (Saga)
Address
Mifuneyama Rakuen, 4100 Takeo, Takeo-cho, Takeo City, Saga (map)
teamLab in Okinawa
teamLab Future Park Okinawa
Located in the southernmost part of Japan, teamLab Future Park Okinawa offers interactive installations designed to engage the whole family in a playful, interactive environment where creativity knows no bounds.
This hands-on experience is perfect for travelers with children or those who want to explore the future of art and play. The installations encourage collaborative art-making, blending the digital with the physical as visitors work together to create ever-changing landscapes, fostering a sense of connection and imagination.
Where
Naha (Okinawa)
Address
DFS Okinawa Naha City 3F, 4-1 Omoromachi, Naha-shi, Okinawa (map)
teamLab in Nagoya
Spatial Calligraphy, Infinity Circle, Nagoya
In the shopping mall KITTE NAGOYA teamLab’s "Spatial Calligraphy" offers a mesmerizing look at traditional Japanese calligraphy through a digital lens. This is a dynamic exploration of calligraphy drawn in three-dimensional space, capturing the essence of brush strokes — depth, speed, and power — and flattening them into what teamLab calls "Ultrasubjective Space."
This continuous, real-time creation is never repeated, reflecting the ephemeral nature of art. The version in Nagoya, where the piece is permanently displayed, the work incorporates the number eight, symbolizing infinity and prosperity, with mythical Shachihoko fish swimming from the strokes, evolving as the day progresses, embodying a constant flow of creation and transformation.
Where
Nagoya (Aichi)
Address
KITTE NAGOYA 1F (JP Tower Nagoya), 1-1 Meieki 1-chome, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture (map)