What to See at the New TeamLab Borderless: Tokyo's Big New Destination of 2024

The biggest new 2024 destination in Tokyo, or just the biggest comeback? Opening February 9, 2024, TeamLab Borderless: Mori Building Digital Art Museum is the second attempt at a permanent digital art museum from the creative art collective TeamLab (stylized as teamLab), and it's a reincarnation of the immensely popular TeamLab Borderless once found in Odaiba, but the team behind this new facility definitely did not just hit "copy-paste." Now located in the basement of the recently-opened Azabudai Hills shopping and entertainment complex in the heart of Tokyo, the new TeamLab Borderless has combined some of the old favorites of its predecessor with a lot of fresh innovation, to create a world of experiential interactive installation art that we suspect will be wowing visitors for years to come. (And will undoubtedly soon become the default profile picture backdrop for Tokyo's younger crowd.) With breathtaking visuals, constantly changing scenery, a good dose of hands-on participation, and a "borderless" concept that connects it to the rest of the world, we recommend TeamLab Borderless for anyone who might enjoy a beautiful and otherworldly digital escape from the bustling Tokyo life just outside.

TeamLab Borderless: Mori Building Digital Art Museum (森ビル デジタルアート ミュージアム：エプソン チームラボボーダレス)
Azabudai Hills B1F, 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato City, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00 - 21:00 (closed first and third Tuesdays of every month)
Tickets: adults: 3,800 ~ 4,800 yen | children: up to 2,800 yen | visitors with disabilities: 1,900 yen and up
Official Website (en)

What does the word "borderless" mean to the creative team behind TeamLab? Exploring their new digital art museum will certainly give you an idea of how far they take the concept, not only blowing past the borders of an individual framed work, but past the physical borders of a room or a hallway, and even past the borders that mark one country or culture from another. From the moment you walk into this new facility, rooms and artistic concepts blend together and physically flow between spaces, creating an experience that is visually spectacular but almost overwhelming. While some individual works of installation art or visual motifs are limited to one area or another, many of the TeamLab artworks on display actually move like waves throughout the rooms and hallways: a flock of white crows trailing neon streaks, or a procession of humans and animals illustrated in the style of traditional Japanese art, parading past along the walls and accompanied by majestic melodies. Sometimes the different themes present themselves in new and unique ways depending on the form of the room they enter, and sometimes they are literally connected (through virtual means) to other TeamLab spaces around the world. Also: it feels like almost everything is interactive. As a thoroughly visual space, this museum doesn't lend itself to verbal or literary description - you'll probably want to see it for yourself.

① TeamLab Borderless or TeamLab Planets, which is better?
There are two large-scale TeamLab facilities in Tokyo, and each of them has unique points to recommend it over the other. TeamLab Planets is the smaller of the two, but each of the rooms is a little more tactile and experiential, with squishy cushion floors and a knee-high "koi pond" you wade your way through. At Borderless, there's not as much to touch (except for the walls, which you can touch a lot), so it's a little more of a visual experience, but the maze-like arrangement and the visuals can certainly be breathtaking. Which sounds better? Read our TeamLab Borderless vs Planets comparison to figure out which one you might prefer.

② Is TeamLab Borderless good for families/little kids?
As a family experience, it's definitely fun to see everything together. For families with slightly older kids we can wholeheartedly recommend the place. For younger children there are no real physical barriers (unlike Planets with its knee-high water), but you might want to consider your child's personality a little. At times you're pretty much walking through pitch-black hallways, and then riots of noise and bright flashing lights come out of nowhere. Maybe not ideal for all small children.

③ Do you need to worry about clothing choices at TeamLab Borderless?
At TeamLab Borderless your shoes stay on and there's no water to walk through, but there are a few rooms with mirrored floors, so they recommend you avoid short skirts.

④ How do you get tickets for TeamLab Borderless, and do you need to get them in advance?
There are a few places selling tickets, but the easiest place to get TeamLab Borderless tickets is just through the TeamLab website here. You absolutely should get your tickets in advance if possible, as dates do sometimes sell out (and popular times often do), but you might be able to buy them day-of if you're lucky. Prices vary depending on the date (3,800 to 4,800 yen for adults) - you can check the calendar on the ticket page for exact prices!

⑤ How do you get to TeamLab Borderless? Is it hard to find?
Unfortunately, the signage around Azabudai Hills shopping complex is a little abysmal, so TeamLab Borderless is kind of difficult to locate, even though it really shouldn't be. The entrance is on the B1 floor, which means it's actually directly connected to Kamiyacho Station. It really should be easy to make your way there, since it's just a couple minutes' walk from the Hibiya Line train station. But instead of using big flashy signs for TeamLab, all of the little signs say "Digital Art Museum" in small lettering. Yes, that's TeamLab. Follow the Digital Art Museum signs, stay on the B1 floor, and you will find your way there. Conveniently, you never have to go outside (although the signs might suggest you do?), which is nice on days with bad weather.

“A Rock Where People Gather”

It's hard to choose just a few highlights across the sprawling corridors of TeamLab Borderless, but one obvious landmark worth noting is a sort of central room that was also found in the previous Odaiba museum. With every inch of the walls and floor being used as a canvas for projection-mapped interactive art, and "flowing water" made of light chasing the footsteps of visitors passing through. Many of the museum's different artworks sweep their way through the enormous room and the atmosphere is always changing, and we haven't even gotten to the room's main attraction: a mountain-like boulder built into the curve of the wall, which functions as an integral part of light shows.

Bubble Universe

This isolated room is a TeamLab classic: the kind of space that lets each visitor feel like they've entered their own little world of glowing magic lanterns, more like something in a fairytale than real life. The glowing orbs flash and dim in a range of colors, and the clever placement actually makes it so that even a crowd of people can enter the room without feeling like they're constantly in each other's photos - vital at TeamLab, where photo-taking is usually priority #1.

Sketch Ocean & the Sketch Factory

Renditions of Sketch Ocean (or similar works) can actually be found in TeamLab installations around the world, but that certainly doesn't take away from the fun. This is as hands-on as it gets! Visitors color in their own sea creatures using one of a dozen or so different templates, and these hand-drawn works of art are scanned into the ocean that covers the walls in a neighboring room. Almost immediately, newly-scanned creatures begin swimming through the digital waters, mingling with the drawings of other TeamLab Borderless visitors, and even some out-of-town visitors originally scribbled at other TeamLab locations!

What's new here is the Sketch Factory. After a sea creature is scanned into the system, visitors can go online and find a cleaned-up version of their work, which can then be printed onto a handful of different souvenir items at the Sketch Factory after leaving the museum. Current merchandise options are t-shirts, tote bags, hand towels, and tin badges, which range from 600 to 4,000 yen, and can all be produced in 20 minutes or less (although wait times will of course depend on pending orders). It's a pretty cool little memento of a totally unique museum experience.

Universe of Fire Particles Dissolving

In this room, we're back to peak TeamLab intensity, thanks to the curtains of falling mist sweeping through a dark room, all used as screens for a number of different works of art. When the Japankuru team visited, the steamy room first hosted a swarm of rainbow butterflies made of light, and then later welcomed a band of ancient musicians.

En Tea House

This dim, quiet tea room is a break from the noise and flashing lights of other spaces, but it's just as magical. The menu includes a variety of tea-based drinks, from simple cold brew green tea to fancy roasted green tea chamomile rice milk lattes, plus a rich green tea gelato, and everything we tried was satisfyingly tasty, but it's definitely more about the experience. Each party is taken to sit at one of a few long counters topped with a tatami-mat-like texture, and the seats stay entirely dark until orders begin to arrive. A combination of sensors and elegant art allows projected flowers to bloom atop tea bowls filled with tea, and nowhere else. Move your bowl, and the old flower will begin to disintegrate, while a new one appears atop the surface of the tea. Similarly, branches of green tea leaves sprout from the small dishes of green tea gelato. When the tea and gelato are gone, so are the botanical projections, like magic!

TeamLab Borderless is sure to be one of Tokyo's most popular attractions from the day it opens its doors. But luckily, it's a pretty big space that can hold a lot of people, and tickets don't seem to be selling out like they did back in Odaiba. If you like interactive digital art and taking gorgeous pictures, grab a ticket, and check out TeamLab Borderless next time you're in Tokyo!


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