The most common mistake people make with teamLab in Tokyo is assuming there is one of it. There are two, they are on opposite sides of the city, and they are not the same experience — and to make it worse, the version most travel articles still describe, the original Borderless in Odaiba, closed in 2022 and no longer exists. If you turn up at the old Odaiba site expecting glowing rooms, you will find a building that has moved on. So before anything else: there are currently two teamLab venues in Tokyo, Borderless and Planets, and you need to know which one you booked.

teamLab is a Tokyo-based collective of artists, programmers, engineers, and animators who make immersive digital installations — projected light, sensors, water, mirrors — that respond to the people moving through them. The work is genuinely good and genuinely crowd-pleasing, which means it is genuinely crowded, which means you book ahead, timed entry, before you leave home. Both venues sell out on weekends and through cherry-blossom and holiday periods.

teamLab Borderless — Azabudai Hills

The newer, central venue is teamLab Borderless, which reopened in February 2024 inside the Azabudai Hills complex in Minato, near Tokyo Tower. This is the one the name describes: there is no fixed route and no map. The artworks are not confined to rooms — they move, drifting from one space into the next, so a school of digital koi might swim out of one chamber and follow you into another, and the boundaries between installations dissolve. You wander. You get lost on purpose. People spend two or three hours in there because there is no obvious exit logic and no checklist, just rooms opening into rooms.

Getting there is easy because Azabudai Hills is a major new development with its own access: Kamiyacho station on the Hibiya line sits essentially underneath it, and Roppongi-itchome on the Namboku line is a short walk. The venue is below ground in the complex. Borderless is the permanent Tokyo venue — it is not going anywhere — so if you are choosing on the basis of “which might disappear,” this is the safe one.

What to expect physically: a lot of dark walking, low light, mirrored surfaces, and crowds funnelling slowly through tight passages. There is no water here, so no special clothing is required, but wear shoes you do not mind shuffling in and be ready for it to be disorienting in a way that some people love and a few find genuinely overwhelming.

teamLab Planets — Toyosu

Across the city in Toyosu, in the reclaimed bay district east of central Tokyo, is teamLab Planets, and it is the more physical of the two. This is the one where you take your shoes off at the entrance and walk barefoot through the entire course — and where, in several rooms, you wade through knee-deep water in which carp made of light swim around your legs and scatter when you move. There is a room you walk into and the floor is water; there is a room of hanging illuminated orbs you push through; there is a mossy outdoor garden section. Planets got a major expansion that opened in January 2025, which roughly doubled its previous footprint and added new garden and animal-themed areas, so it is now closer in scale to Borderless than it used to be.

Because of the water, dress for it: wear or bring something you can roll up above the knee, and skip skirts and dresses, partly for the water and partly because some rooms have mirrored floors. The venue lends shorts to anyone who needs them. Planets is a fixed linear course — you follow the route, there is a beginning and an end — which makes it more legible than Borderless but also means you cannot double back and re-wander.

The critical scheduling fact: teamLab Planets in Toyosu is scheduled to close at the end of 2027. It was originally a limited-run venue that has been repeatedly extended, but the current closing date is end of 2027. If the barefoot, wade-through-water experience is the one you want, go before then — Borderless will outlast it. Toyosu is reached on the Yurikamome automated line to Shin-Toyosu station, a short walk away; the Yurikamome itself, gliding over the bay on an elevated track, is a small pleasure on the way in.

Which one to book

If you only have time for one: Planets is the more memorable single experience for most first-timers — the barefoot wading is unlike anything else, it photographs beautifully, and it has a clear narrative arc — and it has the added pressure of a 2027 closing date. Borderless is the better choice if you want the purer “lost in light” wandering experience, if you are based in central Tokyo and do not want to trek to the bay, or if your dates are after Planets has closed. Plenty of people do both on the same trip; they are different enough to justify it, and the cross-city distance between Azabudai and Toyosu means you would not do them back-to-back anyway — split them across two days.

Practical notes

Book timed tickets online in advance for either venue; walk-up availability is unreliable and often nonexistent at peak times. Allow 90 minutes to 2.5 hours inside, more for Borderless because of its no-exit structure. Both are heavily photographed environments — expect to be surrounded by people taking pictures, and budget patience for the popular rooms. Lockers are available for shoes and bags, especially at Planets where you are barefoot throughout. Neither venue is a quiet, contemplative gallery; they are popular spectacles, and they are very good at being exactly that. Go in knowing which one you are walking into, and which one is on a clock.

Verification

Reported and fact-checked against primary sources (verified 2026-04-15):

Frequently asked questions

How many teamLab venues are there in Tokyo right now?
Two. teamLab Borderless in Azabudai Hills (central Tokyo, near Tokyo Tower) and teamLab Planets in Toyosu (the bay area, east Tokyo). The original Borderless in Odaiba closed in 2022; that site no longer exists.
What is the difference between Borderless and Planets?
Borderless is a maze with no fixed map where the artworks move between rooms. Planets is a fixed-route course you walk barefoot, including rooms where you wade through knee-deep water. Planets is more physical; Borderless is more disorienting.
Do I need to book in advance?
Yes, strongly. Both venues sell timed-entry tickets that regularly sell out, especially on weekends and during cherry-blossom and holiday seasons. Book online before you arrive in Tokyo.
Should I wear anything specific?
For Planets, wear or bring clothing you can roll above the knee, because you wade through water; the venue provides shorts to borrow if needed. Avoid skirts at Planets — some rooms have mirrored floors. Borderless has no water but involves a lot of dark walking.
Is teamLab Planets permanent?
No. teamLab Planets in Toyosu is scheduled to close at the end of 2027. teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills is the permanent Tokyo venue. If you specifically want Planets, go before the end of 2027.