teamLab Planets or Borderless: Which One to Book

Both are digital art museums run by the same studio, both sell timed tickets that go before the weekend, and both appear in every Tokyo itinerary. They are not variations on the same place.

The short version: Planets is barefoot and physical, and you walk through water. Borderless is a dark maze you get lost in. If you only have time for one, pick on that distinction rather than on the photographs, because the photographs look identical.

What Planets is like

You leave your shoes in a locker at the door and stay barefoot for the whole visit. The floors slope, one room is filled with warm knee-deep water with carp swimming across the surface in projection, another is a mirrored space with hanging orchids, and one is a soft inflatable landscape you climb through.

It is the more physical of the two, the easier one to take children to, and the one that works better for a short visit — the route is fixed, so you walk forwards and come out the other end in about ninety minutes. The water room is the reason most people remember it.

What Borderless is like

There is no map and no route. Rooms open into other rooms, projections cross between them, and works move through the building during the day, which means two visitors on the same afternoon see different things. The signature spaces are a lamp room where lights respond to where you stand, a crystal cave, and a tea house where a flower blooms in your cup.

It rewards wandering for two or three hours and frustrates anyone on a schedule. It is also darker, more crowded at the famous installations, and harder with a pushchair.

Which one to pick

What to wear to Planets

This is the detail people miss. You will wade through water about 30 to 40 centimetres deep, so you need to be able to roll your clothes above the knee. Wide trousers and long skirts are a problem; shorts are ideal. The museum lends shorts if you arrive in the wrong thing, which costs you a queue rather than the visit.

Several floors are mirrors, which is worth thinking about if you are wearing a skirt, and the whole place is barefoot, so no socks and nothing you cannot carry. Lockers are free and there are towels and hairdryers at the exit. Leave the camera bag at the hotel: a phone in a pocket is the right amount of equipment.

Borderless has no dress code. Wear something comfortable and dark-friendly, and expect warm rooms.

Booking

Both use timed entry with half-hourly slots, and both use dynamic pricing — the same ticket costs more on a Saturday than on a Tuesday morning. Adult admission was in the range of 3,600 to 4,200 JPY in October 2026, with discounted rates for children and free entry for under-fours.

Buy ahead. In practice the first slot of the day and the last two hours are the quietest, and the busiest hours are between eleven and three at weekends. Tickets are sold through the official sites and through a small number of authorised resellers; anything cheaper than the official price from an unfamiliar site is not worth the risk of being turned away at the door.

Getting there

Planets is in Toyosu, on the bay. Shin-Toyosu station on the Yurikamome line is a minute away; Toyosu on the Yurakucho subway line is about a ten-minute walk. Pair it with the Toyosu fish market in the morning, which is next door and open early.

Borderless sits inside Azabudai Hills, two minutes from Kamiyacho on the Hibiya line and a short walk from Roppongi-itchome. The complex has restaurants and an observation level, so it absorbs a wet afternoon easily.

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If both are sold out

It happens in cherry blossom season and over New Year. The nearest substitutes are the Mori Art Museum and the observation deck above it in Roppongi, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building in Shinjuku for a free view, and the planetarium and science museums in Odaiba, which are a short ride from Toyosu.

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Questions people actually ask

Can I visit both in one day?

Yes, with an early slot at Planets and an afternoon slot at Borderless. They are about 25 minutes apart by train. It is a lot of projection for one day, and most people are tired of the dark by the second venue.

Is Planets suitable for a wheelchair or a pushchair?

Partly. Some rooms involve water, soft uneven floors and steps, and pushchairs are left at the entrance. Both venues publish accessibility notes for each room, and the staff will route you around what you cannot cross.

Will my phone survive the water room?

It is knee-deep and calm, and almost everyone photographs it from inside, but there is no waterproofing and no insurance. Keep the strap on your wrist.

How long do the tickets last?

The slot is for entry only. Once inside you can stay until closing, which is why Borderless suits a slow afternoon better than a tight schedule.

Are they worth it for someone who does not like modern art?

Planets usually is: it is closer to a sensory experience than a gallery. Borderless asks for more patience.

Is there anywhere to eat at either?

Borderless has a tea house inside and the whole of Azabudai Hills outside it. Planets has a vegan ramen counter and little else nearby, so plan dinner elsewhere.