Tokyo Travel Guide: teamLab Planets in Toyosu
We just came back from our 3 week trip to Japan and I’m so excited to be sharing everything we did along with introducing more topics on culture and the importance of instilling that into our homes. I’m sharing everything we did in Tokyo (see below)! This itinerary is great for kids too, as we took our 18 month old everywhere and I can assure you, she had a fun time!
I’m so excited to be sharing my favorite country, my motherland more on this blog.
Since we explored so many spots, I’ll break this into a series and write about each location so it’s not information overload haha! Here are 8 things we did in Tokyo below, and today we’re talking about teamLab Planets!
Cherry blossom viewing at the Meguro River
Ghibli Museum
teamLab Planets
teamLab Borderless
Tsukiji Fish Market
Tokyo Disney Sea
Tokyo Disneyland
Asobono Playground at the Tokyo Dome City
TEAMLAB PLANETS
WHAT IS IT?
In short, the teamLab exhibitions are immersive and interactive digital art museums. There are 2 exhibits, “Planets” and “Borderless.” Note that these are 2 separate museums and located in different areas of Tokyo. Planets is located in Toyosu and Borderless is located in Odaiba.
The 2 museums are similar in that it uses digital art and technology to give you an immersive experience. But there are some differences in the 2 though, so let’s talk about teamLab Planets!
Purchase tickets for Planets here: https://planets.teamlab.art/tokyo/
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
It’s highly recommended you purchase tickets beforehand. If you go on the day of with no tickets, there’s not much of a chance you can get in. Tickets are easy to purchase, I’ve provided the link below. It will allow you to choose a date and time based on availability. One of the biggest differences from Planets to Borderless is that, Planets has you choose the time slot to go. We were able to get tickets for a 12pm slot, but you can purchase for an earlier or later timeslot. Whereas Borderless’s tickets are valid all day. You can go at anytime.
I personally liked that Planets had designated time slots because you knew when you’d get in and there wasn’t much of a wait. I think of it similar to fastpasses at Disneyland. You go during the timeframe and you get in. While Borderless’s ticket is valid all day and you can go at any time, you’ll most likely need to wait to get in, especially on the weekends and holidays.
OUR EXPERIENCE
CRYSTAL WORLD
This is the most instagrammed location in Planets. You can clearly see why. I was able to see the Crystal World (pictured here) at both Planets and Borderless.
Planets was much much better!
Once you step into this room, you can’t help but be mesmerized. We spent majority of our time in this room. I’ll let the photos speak for itself.
BALLOONS, FLOWERS, AND WATER
I would say one of the main differences from Borderless, is that Planets has rooms with water where you are literally walking through a big room of water. Right when you get into the museum, you will be walking up an incline with water coming down. It was dark with a light installation towards the end. It was a REALLY cool way to start. For the other rooms with water, they display digital art onto the water where you can interact with. I wasn’t able to take photos of this since I was carrying Addie while she napped in my arms but it really was a cool experience. You can also opt out of this water room if you want. You just need to let the staff know.
Note: Because there’s water, you will need to take off your shoes and socks for the entire time you’re inside the museum. Yes, even if you decide to opt out of that one room. There’s water elsewhere.
A room with big floating balloons was also so much fun and you could definitely hear a lot of giggling because it’s pretty funny to be squished by big balls, lol.
The exhibit ends with a flower planetarium where you can lie down and watch flowers move above you. It puts you in a meditative state if you stay there awhile, but might make you feel dizzy . I think I almost fell asleep lol.
It all sounds so simple when you’re writing it out, but everything is truly an amazing experience and it’s just one of those exhibits you have to see, feel, and experience for yourself.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I really really enjoyed our experience at Planets. Even though this exhibit is smaller than Borderless, I actually liked that I was able to finish it within 2-3 hours. I also really loved that there was a “pathway” if you will. A beginning, middle, and an end to take you throughout the exhibit. At Borderless, there was so many times where I felt lost because I truly didn’t know where I was (hence the name Borderless, it really was a borderless experience haha), and we’ve had to ask the staff where to go.
At Planets, it felt more structured in a way that we could follow. Like once we were done with a room, we just walk over to the next, then the next, and next. And before we knew it, we were done!
Here are some final tips on how to enjoy teamLab Planets
Purchase tickets early
Wear pants that can be rolled up or shorts so you don’t get too wet.
There are mirrors underneath, so I recommend wearing pants, shorts, or long skirts so no one can see your panties ladies haha.
Bring your carrier if your kids still need to be held or can’t follow your directions when it comes to walking.
It’s worth noting again that, Borderless is in Odaiba and Planets is in Toyosu. They are 2 separate exhibits. You just read about PLANETS. (See Borderless post here)