Things to do in Tokyo, Kanto: The Best Art Galleries

Reviewed By DouglasA587

teamLab Borderless (The Odaiba Edition of teamLab), was our first experience of this kind of interactive digital light and sound exhibit. We've visited our fair share of classical, modern and interactive galleries. But this was something quite different, as evidenced by the throngs off people waiting to get in at 10am (opening time), and the queues 10 deep, 50m back outside the door when we left at 1pm. Other reviews and their own website give you the general sense of what's happening: clever use of light and sound in a dark space, some of them with interactive, and even physical elements (like climbing through the 3 dimensional bouldering wall). But that doesn't capture the magic of being there in the dark, wondering what new and beautiful creature is about to come dancing around the corner. There's mo map and genuinely a surprise around every corner. We went around and around to make sure we left no nook undiscovered. Although initially you feel lost and perhaps a little overwhelmed, after a while the layout starts to make sense. For all that, we couldn't visit one of the most famous rooms, with the lanterns, because by the time we got to it, there was an additional 1 hour queue that we decided was too much on top of 3 hours already spent. I do recommend pre-booking online and turning up at opening time, or even 15 minutes before so you're in ASAP when it's as empty as possible. There are coin operated lockers, and luggage locks, so dump your stuff. Having bags around is a drag. Even though you'll be captivated from the first large open area, do head straight to the Lantern room, and consider doing the upstairs section early because it has more elements to queue for. Young (and old) kids will also get more of a blast upstairs where everything is interactive and designed more for the younger (although me and my wife did our crayon drawing that got turned into a digital life-form that we happily chased around the floor). Also take advantage of the En Tea House early, which is located on the upper floor. This isn't not your ordinary Japanese tea experience and is really a full exhibit in its own right. Don't just take the tea, but take the ice cream set. Hint: the tea and the ice cream behave differently. We pre-booked and arrived at opening time on a Christmas Sunday (Dec 21) and the queue was already full but they were selling tickets at the door. They only sell a certain volume off tickets for the day, and when we left at 1pm, they were selling tickets that could only be used from 3pm. Despite the crowd control, it was quite busy inside, although the area is larger than I thought, so it easily swallows several thousand people I would think. Many people say they took one or two hours. We were there 3, and I think we could have stayed longer just to soak up the ambience. It's easily accessible from the Tokyo Teleport station, or the Aomi station. Both are on private lines, so you need an IC card or special ticket, since they are neither JR nor Metro. TeamLab also have a similar exhibit in Shanghai and another "Planets" exhibit in Tokyo which we didn't go to, but looks more for kids.