TeamLab Borderless vs Planets: which digital museum in Tokyo should you visit?

Which is better: TeamLab Planets or TeamLab Borderless? This is the question we get asked most whenever we mention TeamLab in our Tokyo content, and, honestly, it's a good one. Both museums are created by the same art collective. Both feature amazing digital installations. Both sell out weeks in advance. And both are genuinely unlike anything else in Tokyo. So how do you choose? Because they're more different than most people expect. We definitely have our favourite. Read on and we'll tell you why!

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Already decided on Planets? Head to our full TeamLab Planets Visitor Guide for tickets, tips, and everything you need to know before you go.

Now, we've been to both TeamLab Planets and TeamLab Borderless several times over and feel pretty well-placed to be able to compare these two special Tokyo museums. Let's have a look at what you can expect from each from different angles:

TeamLab Borderless

TeamLab Borderless is the newer of the two digital art museums in Tokyo, even though it's technically the OG. TeamLab Borderless used to be in Odaiba too, in Palette Town, before closing in 2022 when Palette Town shut down. It then reopened bigger and better in 2024 in Azabudai Hills in Roppongi. There are over 75 artworks spread across a huge space, and there is no real map or circuit - you wander, discover, double back, and stumble into rooms you didn't expect. Art doesn't stay in its room; projections flow through walls and blend into each other. The experience can last three or four hours easily, and some people spend even longer. It was selected by TIME as one of the "World's Greatest Places" in 2024, and it deserves that. It will really appeal to people who are curious and willing to completely lose themselves in the art for an entire afternoon.

TeamLab Planets

TeamLab Planets was the new kid on the TeamLab block when we first visited it. We were already huge fans of Borderless at the time and were excited to try a new take on what we already knew. There are fewer spaces here than in Borderless, but the experience is much more immersive. As you probably know already, you take your shoes off, wade through water, bounce across trampoline-y floors, lie down for 3-d cinema-like projections... Another key difference is that there is a specific route that you take, leading you from room to room. Guides will tell you that whole experience takes one to two hours but that's rushing it and, let me tell you, our kids had their little socks knocked off the first time we took them there (well, they had taken their socks off, of course, but you know what I mean) and insisted on doing the entire loop again... which you can do, as many times as you want.

TeamLab Planets vs TeamLab Borderless: which is best for whom

So, you've probably already got an inkling of which we prefer and the vibe of each installation in general. Yes, for us it's TeamLab Planets every time, and our youngest has asked for TeamLab Planets tickets for her birthday, which she'll be spending in Tokyo this year. Looking at visitor statistics (2.51 million visitors in 2025 for TeamLab Planets vs 1.69 million for TeamLab Borderless), it would seem as though (potentially) millions of Japan visitors agree with us! I think this is for several reasons. First of all, a lot of these digital art installations have popped up all over the world in recent years - in Europe, at least, temporary exhibitions that lean heavily into the TeamLab Borderless way of doing things have been doing the rounds since before Covid even. (We're still waiting for a new TeamLabs exhibition to open in Hamburg, though. It was due to open its doors early in 2025, then at the end of 2025 and there's still no definitive date. Come on, TeamLab, get it together!) The interactive character of TeamLab Planets is something different, though. And it's so much fun, especially for kids. Another reason is maybe that TeamLab Planets has been closing for years: it was supposed to close in 2020, then in 2023. This was extended until 2025 but, due to its great popularity and despite the new TeamLab Borderless opening up in competition, not only was the deadline put off until 2027 but the site has been expanded and new rooms added.

Generally, we would say that TeamLab Planets is an experience for the young and the young at heart. I left at least one of the rooms in TeamLab Planets crying with laughter and, probably because it's all so much more sensory, that first visit is vivid in my memory, whereas TeamLab Borderless blew my mind that first time but I remember how impressed I was rather than the exhibits and rooms themselves. TeamLab Borderless is absolutely worth visiting too, but it's altogether a more adult experience.

What I remember about TeamLab Borderless are the queues to get into the more popular rooms. In most cases, it was no problem to just walk into a space and experience it but we missed out on the highlights the first time round because we didn't want to wait in line for 15 minutes. Because TeamLab Borderless has a fixed route, there is a constant flow and no lines (except for the living flowers exhibit). You can technically stay in any room as long as you want (again, except for the living flowers), but staff are there to ensure that there are no traffic jams and nothing felt über-crowded, even though we were there at peak time last visit. We really appreciated not "missing out" on anything and, as I said, you can go back for a second round if you don't think you got the time you wanted in a certain room.

Of course, you have to be willing to go barefoot and roll your trousers up and that's not everyone's thing, to be sure. Crawling your way through what can at times seem like a kids' soft-play gym is a little undignified... but hilarious.

One note, though: TeamLab Borderless is a bit more wheelchair-friendly. The nature of the exhibits at TeamLab Planets means that wheelchair users have to take a different route that bypasses some of the rooms.

Our verdict, then: for most first-time Tokyo visitors, Planets is the pick. The barefoot-in-water experience is unlike anything else in the world, the time commitment is manageable, and the closing date in 2027 gives it a certain urgency. It's also the one that tends to generate more of those "I wasn't expecting to feel that" reactions. If you've done Planets before, or if the idea of free-roaming a vast no-map museum sounds more appealing than a physical, guided sequence, go to Borderless. Tickets for both are around the same price (currently about 4000 yen, depending on the day and time) and can be, and should be, booked in advance. Tickets go on sale around 12 weeks in advance and are usually booked out around 5-6 weeks in advance, so don't put of reserving your tickets until you arrive in Tokyo. You can buy your tickets through Klook: click on the buttons below to check availability:

TeamLab Planets tickets

TeamLab Borderless tickets

Should you do both TeamLab Planets and TeamLab Borderless?

Sure! If you have the time in your itinerary, they both have something different to offer. Trying to do both in one day isn't the best idea, though. First of all, you'll end end with digital art burn-out and will inevitably take away less from the experience than the sum of the two museums. Secondly, they both deserve time, at least 90 minutes each. Thirdly, they are in two completely different areas of Tokyo and will require a bit of a time investment travelling between the two. TeamLab Borderless is in Roppongi , whereas TeamLab Planets is in Odaiba, at almost the very end of the Yurikamome train line. Both are perfect rainy-day activities or indoor activities for a hot Tokyo summer's day, so if you are visiting japan in the rainy season or July/August, book them both for separate days for some planned respite from your outdoor sightseeing schedule.

TeamLab Planets vs TeamLab Borderless: FAQ

 How long does TeamLab Planets take?

If you're on a tight schedule, you can be in and out of TeamLab Planets in 90 minutes or so. But you can also stretch it out, no problem, to several hours if you want to fill a wet afternoon. There is no specific time limit.

Which TeamLabs in Tokyo is better?

It's absolutely a matter of taste, but as a family that has done both several times, we prefer TeamLab Planets. It involves a lot of hands-on action, though, so to get the most out of the experience, you have to be prepared to let the big kid in you come to the surface. TeamLab Borderless is much more sedate and less interactive. It's a more adult experience, which is not to say that kids won't enjoy it, but TeamLabs is definitely our choice for families and first-timers in Tokyo.

When is TeamLab Planets closing?

Currently, TeamLab Planets is expected to close in 2027. That date has shifted several times into the future, though, and it's ever popular. We'll update you as soon as there is a definitive date for closure.

Is TeamLab Planets a tourist trap?

At around 4000 yen for adults, many visitors to Tokyo will ask themselves if they should really invest in tickets for the TeamLab museums in Tokyo, TeamLab Planets and TeamLab Borderless. For sure. But as a family, we are repeat visitors and find the tickets worth every yen. It's the highlight of every trip for our kids and never gets old. One caveat: you really need to be prepared to spent 2 or three hours there to get the most out of it. Speeding through just to check it off your bucket list might have you leaving with the feeling that it wasn't worth the ticket price.