Exploring TeamLab Planets in Tokyo

When we were planning our time in Tokyo, one experience kept showing up on almost every “must-see” list: TeamLab Planets. After visiting, it’s easy to understand why. It’s not just a museum—it’s an immersive digital art experience where light, color, sound, and motion surround you from every direction.

Unlike traditional museums where you observe art from a distance, TeamLab invites you to walk through it, interact with it, and become part of it.

From glowing rooms filled with floating spheres to surreal digital landscapes filled with animals and flowing water, every space feels like stepping into a different world.

First Impressions

The moment we stepped inside, it felt like we had entered a completely different universe.

One of the first installations we walked through was a dark sloped corridor illuminated by glowing light strips stretching into the distance, water falling down the walkway. The lighting and reflections made the walkway feel almost endless, like you were walking through a portal into another dimension.

This was meant to clean your feet before entering the installations, but It immediately set the tone for the entire experience—mysterious, immersive, and visually stunning.

A dark, abstract image showing a reflective surface with two parallel lines of bright white light converging toward a vanishing point, creating a tunnel-like effect.

Rooms Filled With Light

One of the most memorable spaces was a room filled with massive glowing spheres suspended throughout the space.

The lighting constantly shifted between vibrant pinks, deep blues, and soft purples, changing the entire atmosphere of the room every few seconds. Because the floors and walls are mirrored, the reflections make the space feel infinite.

It’s one of those places where you naturally slow down and look around because something new catches your eye every few seconds.

People walking among large, inflated white balloons in a room lit with green light. Some are taking photos while others look around, surrounded by the oversized floating spheres.

A group of people stand in a room filled with large, round, red balloons hanging from the ceiling and floating on the floor, all bathed in intense red lighting.

Three adults stand together in a room filled with large, round, balloon-like objects, illuminated by blue and purple lighting. One person looks up, another smiles, and the third appears slightly blurred in motion.

People stand among large, glowing white spheres in a room bathed in pink and purple light. One person takes a photo, and the reflective floor enhances the colorful, immersive atmosphere.

Digital Worlds That Move Around You

Another area projected animated environments across the walls and floor. Colorful sea creatures, abstract shapes, and flowing patterns moved throughout the room like living paintings.

As people walked through the space, the projections reacted and shifted around them, making the artwork feel alive.

Instead of watching art, you’re walking through it.

People walk through a dark room filled with vibrant, multi-colored lights and floral patterns projected on the walls and floor, creating an immersive and surreal atmosphere.

Colorful digital projection of a salamander and abstract shapes on a dark floor, with splashes of bright paint and several people’s legs and shoes visible around the artwork.

People walk on glowing, rectangular blocks arranged on a floor illuminated with colorful, swirling, abstract light patterns in a dark, immersive art installation.

Colorful, glowing jellyfish and abstract shapes are projected onto walls and a reflective floor with cube-shaped stools, creating an immersive, futuristic underwater atmosphere.

A glowing, colorful digital whale swims among vibrant, neon fish and abstract underwater shapes against a dark, wavy background, creating an immersive, otherworldly ocean scene.

A glowing digital display shows colorful, neon images of a mammoth and trees. A person stands to the right, looking at the vivid, immersive scene. The lighting creates a surreal, dreamlike forest atmosphere.

A vibrant digital floor display shows swirling blue shapes, colorful splashes, and flowers. Several peoples legs and feet are visible standing on the illuminated artwork.

Walking Through the Koi Fish Water Room

One of the most surreal installations at TeamLab Planets is the water room filled with glowing digital koi fish.

Visitors actually walk through shallow water while colorful koi swim across the floor beneath your feet. As people move through the space, the fish react and scatter, transforming into bursts of flowers when they collide with each other or the walls.

The entire room feels alive.

Soft ripples move across the water while hundreds of glowing fish drift through the space in shifting colors of blue, gold, red, and purple. With the mirrored walls reflecting the projections, the room feels almost endless.

It’s one of the most immersive parts of the experience—and easily one of the most photographed rooms inside TeamLab.

Colorful lights are reflected on a glossy surface in a dark room, with several shadowy figures standing or walking in the background. The scene has a vibrant, dreamy, and abstract atmosphere.

Colorful lights are reflected on the surface of water in a dark setting; abstract patterns and ripples are visible, with some silhouettes of people faintly seen at the top of the image.

People walk on a floor illuminated with colorful, glowing digital images of koi fish and light patterns, creating an immersive, interactive art experience in a dark space.

Nature Reimagined Through Technology

This beautiful installation featured glowing, animated nature scenes surrounding you at every corner where everywhere you looked was a scavenger hunt for new animals and plants.

The entire scene slowly changed colors, shifting between blues, greens, and purples while the digital forest around it moved and shimmered.

It felt surreal—like stepping into a prehistoric world that had been reimagined through digital art.

Glowing trees and plants in vibrant neon colors, including blue, purple, and pink, are set against a dark background, creating a surreal, mystical forest scene.

A zebra with glowing, neon purple and blue stripes stands among vibrantly lit trees and flowers in a surreal, colorful forest scene reflected in a pool of water at the bottom.

A glowing, neon forest scene with tall, colorful trees and vibrant plants illuminated under blacklight. An exit sign with a right arrow hangs above the scene.

A vibrant, blue-lit waterfall cascades over rocks surrounded by lush greenery and foliage, with reflections shimmering on the water below, creating a magical, otherworldly scene.

A glowing, neon-colored forest scene with large trees and bright green vines. Pink flowers cover the ground, and a pink flamingo stands among the trees in the surreal, illuminated landscape.

The Infinite Crystal Light Room

Another unforgettable part of TeamLab Planets is the series of rooms filled with hanging LED crystal strands.

Thousands of tiny lights hang from the ceiling like glowing rain, stretching from floor to ceiling and reflecting endlessly in mirrored walls. As the colors slowly change between cool blues, warm pinks, and deep purples, the entire room transforms around you.

Walking through these spaces feels like stepping inside a galaxy made of light.

The reflections create the illusion that the lights extend infinitely in every direction, making it difficult to tell where the room actually ends.

It’s one of the most visually striking installations in the entire museum.

Colorful LED light strands hang vertically, creating a shimmering, immersive wall of pink, purple, and blue lights; some strands sparkle with glowing dots in a dark environment.

Vertical strands of glowing blue and green LED lights create a sparkling, immersive effect, resembling a digital curtain or a futuristic light installation.

Rows of vertical strings with small, multicolored LED lights create a shimmering, glowing effect in a dimly lit space, giving a sense of depth and a dreamy, immersive atmosphere.

Rows of hanging LED lights glow in green, blue, and purple, creating a vibrant, immersive display with a sense of depth and sparkling reflections.

Close-up of a blue and turquoise patterned surface, featuring radiating lines and small dots that shimmer with a holographic, iridescent effect, creating a visually striking and abstract geometric design.

Rows of hanging LED light strands create a sparkling, immersive effect, with glowing white and blue lights suspended in a dark, reflective space.

Two people stand smiling together in front of a backdrop of vertical strands of glowing lights, creating a sparkling, immersive atmosphere. Both wear casual clothing and glasses.

Outdoor Installations

TeamLab also includes outdoor exhibits where polished metallic sculptures sit among moss-covered landscapes.

The mirrored surfaces reflect everything around them—plants, sky, visitors, and the surrounding architecture—creating constantly changing reflections depending on where you stand.

Compared to the immersive indoor rooms, this area felt calmer but just as visually fascinating.

Reflective, silver, bean-shaped sculptures are scattered on mossy ground under a canopy with horizontal lines. Mirrors on the sides create an illusion of infinite repetition. Some people are visible in the reflections.

A large indoor exhibit features reflective, egg-shaped silver sculptures on moss-covered mounds, with people walking among them and mirrored walls creating an illusion of endless space.

The Floating Flower Garden

One of the final spaces we visited was the floating flower garden.

Hundreds of real orchids hang from the ceiling, creating a living canopy of flowers that slowly moves throughout the room. As visitors walk through the space, the flowers gently rise and shift to create pathways.

Mirrors surrounding the installation multiply the flowers in every direction, making the garden feel almost endless.

Compared to the darker digital installations earlier in the museum, this room feels peaceful and almost dreamlike. It’s a beautiful contrast that closes out the experience perfectly.

A dense arrangement of colorful flowers and green plants hangs from above, reflected in mirrors on the walls and ceiling, creating an immersive, kaleidoscopic garden effect.

Three adults smiling and posing for a selfie in front of a lush, colorful display of hanging flowers and greenery. The background is filled with various orchids and plants.

Three people pose for a selfie in front of a lush display of colorful orchids and greenery in a greenhouse, smiling at the camera with flowers and leaves filling the background.

Tips for Visiting TeamLab

Buy tickets in advance. Time slots can sell out quickly.

Plan to spend at least 1–2 hours exploring the exhibits.

Wear comfortable shoes since you’ll be walking through a lot of spaces.

Bring a phone or camera with a good low-light mode because the lighting creates incredible photo opportunities.

Is TeamLab Worth It?

Absolutely.

TeamLab isn’t something you simply look at—it’s something you experience.

Every room feels completely different, and the combination of technology, art, and storytelling makes it one of the most unique attractions in Tokyo.

If you’re visiting Japan and want something visually stunning and memorable, TeamLab should definitely be on your itinerary.

Our Takeaway

Tokyo is filled with incredible sights—historic temples, amazing food, bustling neighborhoods—but TeamLab stands out because it feels unlike anything else.

For a few hours, it feels like stepping into a living piece of art.

And honestly, it’s one of those places that photos don’t fully capture—you really have to see it for yourself.

Open in Maps