TeamLab is self-guided by design. This page helps you decide whether it fits your guided day, which venue matches your interests, and what to do before and after.
June 29, 2025
8 mins read
Private tour guides can buy tickets and walk through teamLab alongside you. What they can't do is guide you through it — the experience is explicitly self-guided, pathless, designed for freeform discovery. That's not a limitation. It's a clue about where guide value actually lives.
The question isn't whether to visit teamLab. It's whether 2-4 hours of your guided day should be spent in a museum designed to need no guidance. And if so, which venue — Planets in Toyosu or Borderless in Azabudai Hills — creates the full Tokyo day you're actually looking for.
The TeamLab Question Guides Actually Answer
What guides can (and can't) do at teamLab
Guides can purchase tickets and enter teamLab with you. They must buy their own admission — there's no professional exemption. Once inside, they become visitors like everyone else.
TeamLab is designed for freeform discovery. There's no fixed path. No scheduled programming. No interpretive layer where a guide's knowledge unlocks deeper meaning. The projections respond to your movement, not to explanation. You wander until you feel ready to leave.
This differs from a temple, a market, or a museum with permanent collections. Those spaces reward context. TeamLab rewards presence.
The 2-4 hour opportunity cost
Visits run 2-3 hours, extending to 3-4 hours if you include the ramen café or flower shop. During that time, a guide's expertise sits dormant. The interpretation they're trained to provide has no application in rooms designed for sensory immersion.
At ¥3,600-5,400 per person for entry, plus whatever you're paying for guided hours, the question becomes economic: Could those same hours, in the same area, generate more value with guide interpretation active?
The answer depends entirely on what surrounds each venue.
Planets or Borderless? The Day Design Decision
Most comparisons focus on the exhibitions themselves. Planets involves water up to knee height, barefoot walking, a flower garden with real orchids. Borderless keeps your shoes on, features artwork that flows between rooms, and stays accessible to all mobility levels.
That's useful information. It's also incomplete.
What surrounds Planets (Toyosu ecosystem)
TeamLab Planets sits in Toyosu, Tokyo's wholesale market district. Toyosu Market is 12 minutes on foot — or one Yurikamome stop to Shijo-mae Station. The market houses famous sushi restaurants like Sushi Dai (Block 6, 3rd floor) and Daiwa Sushi (Block 5, 1st floor), both serving omakase breakfast from 5:30am.
Adjacent to the market, Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai opened in February 2024 as an Edo-themed complex with 70+ restaurants and Tokyo Toyosu Manyo Club — a 24-hour onsen using water transported from Hakone and Yugawara. A free public footbath on the 8th floor offers views of Tokyo Bay without requiring spa admission.
LaLaport Toyosu sits 12 minutes away with 180+ shops, including KidZania Tokyo for families (ages 3-15, 90+ professions in a 2/3 scale city).
What surrounds Borderless (Azabudai-Roppongi ecosystem)
TeamLab Borderless occupies Azabudai Hills, which houses Japan's tallest building — Mori JP Tower. Tokyo Tower stands 10 minutes away on foot via Shiba Park.
The Roppongi Art Triangle connects three major museums within walking distance: Mori Art Museum (52nd-53rd floors, Roppongi Hills), National Art Center Tokyo, and Suntory Museum of Art. The ATRo Saving discount gives ¥200 off at one museum when you show your ticket stub from another.
At Tokyo Midtown, 21_21 Design Sight — designed by Tadao Ando and founded by Issey Miyake — offers design-focused exhibitions in a building that's 70% underground.
How the surrounding area determines your day
A Planets day involves seafood, market culture, and waterfront. A Borderless day involves architecture, contemporary art, and city views.
The guide's value isn't inside teamLab. It's navigating Toyosu Market before the crowds, explaining the ATRo system across Roppongi, knowing which observation point offers the best Tokyo Tower sunset shot, and handling the logistics that connect these experiences into a day that flows.
A Planets Day — Toyosu Market to Odaiba Waterfront
The Toyosu breakfast → Planets morning sequence
Morning option starts early. Toyosu Market restaurants open at 5:30am, with sushi counters running until early afternoon. Sushi Dai draws the longest lines — 3-5 hours during peak periods — but now uses a ticket system where you check in and return at a designated time. Daiwa Sushi offers twice as many seats and faster turnover (15-30 minute meals versus an hour), with waits of 1-2 hours.
After breakfast, Planets opens at 8:30am. First slots sell out quickly, but the January 2025 expansion has distributed crowds across more space. The new Athletics Forest and Catching and Collecting Extinct Forest add 1.5x the previous exhibition area.
Guide value during this sequence: market navigation, timing choreography between sushi and teamLab entry, explaining the Edo-era architecture of Senkyaku Banrai if you stop for the free footbath afterward. We cover Toyosu Market as a guided experience separately.
The navigation problem is real: Toyosu Market splits across multiple buildings, and first-time visitors regularly get confused. Sushi Dai sits on the 3rd floor of Block 6; Daiwa Sushi is on the 1st floor of Block 5 — different buildings entirely, connected by elevated walkways. Sushi Dai now uses a ticket system where you register your party size and receive a time slot. Arrive at 5am, get a noon slot. Arrive at 6am, slots may be gone for the day.
When Planets fits an afternoon slot
Afternoon option allows a relaxed morning elsewhere — Ginza shopping, Tsukiji Outer Market, or a neighborhood walk — before arriving at Planets. Evening slots (7pm+) are now less crowded than morning, as the "book early" advice has saturated and first slots attract influencer crowds.
After an afternoon visit, dinner options include the 70+ restaurants at Senkyaku Banrai or the waterfront cafés at LaLaport Toyosu. The day-fee onsen at Manyo Club runs ¥3,850 for adults if you want to end with a soak. If this day structure appeals, Tokyo Essentials includes Toyosu Market navigation as part of a broader Tokyo introduction.
Families: The January 2025 Athletics Forest
The January 2025 expansion made Planets substantially more family-relevant. The Athletics Forest zone is movement-oriented with playground-style physical interactions. Catching and Collecting Extinct Forest lets kids catch 80+ digital animals using a smartphone app — part of teamLab's educational project.
Visit duration has increased from 2 hours to 3 hours with the new zones. Families now have reason to prioritize Planets over Borderless if children are part of the group. Tokyo Together is designed specifically for intergenerational groups who want shared experiences rather than separate agendas.
Vegan Ramen UZU, located in the outdoor plaza, requires museum admission to access. The Kyoto-origin restaurant earned Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition four consecutive years. Miso ramen runs ¥2,000, or ¥3,000 to eat inside the art-room space.
A Borderless Day — Art, Architecture, and Tokyo Tower
The Roppongi art triangle connection
Borderless positions naturally within an art-focused day. Mori Art Museum — open until 10pm except Tuesdays — sits 12-15 minutes away in Roppongi Hills. The current exhibition, Roppongi Crossing 2025, runs through March 2026.
The ATRo Saving system works with physical ticket stubs only. Buy at the counter (not online), keep your stub, and show it at the next museum for ¥200 off. National Art Center Tokyo and Suntory Museum of Art complete the triangle.
21_21 Design Sight offers ¥100 off with a Suntory Museum stub. The museum opens 10am-7pm, closed Tuesdays, with general admission at ¥1,600.
Guide value here: explaining exhibition context at Mori Art Museum, navigating between venues efficiently, providing architectural background on Tadao Ando's design philosophy at 21_21. For travelers focused on Tokyo's built environment, we cover architecture and design tours in depth.
Tokyo Tower: 10 minutes on foot
Tokyo Tower sits within walking distance from Azabudai Hills via Shiba Park. The walk takes 10-13 minutes and passes Zojoji Temple, where Tokyo Tower photographs frame behind traditional temple architecture. The classic shot is from the grounds directly in front of the Main Hall — the hall faces east, so early morning light works best, while evening captures the illuminated tower. Note that Azabudai Hills now appears on the right side of the traditional frame.
Main Deck (150m) admission runs ¥1,200-1,500. Top Deck Tour (150m+250m) costs ¥2,800-3,500 with advance booking recommended. The tower opens at 9am and stays open until 10:30pm (last Main Deck admission at 10pm).
Sunset timing from Tokyo Tower requires arriving 60-90 minutes before golden hour. A guide helps calculate this based on your Borderless exit time.
When an art-focused day makes sense
This day suits travelers who want interpretation throughout. Unlike the self-guided Planets experience, Mori Art Museum benefits from context. The architecture of Azabudai Hills and Roppongi's design district rewards explanation.
If your goal is a day where guide expertise stays active from morning to evening, the Borderless ecosystem supports that better than the Planets ecosystem — where the main attraction deliberately excludes interpretation. Infinite Tokyo allows fully custom itineraries built around specific interests like contemporary art and architecture.
The 2025 Crowd Reality
Why "book early" no longer works
The conventional advice — book the first morning slot for fewer crowds — has become self-defeating. Everyone reads the same tips. First slots now sell out first and attract concentrated crowds, particularly visitors positioning for Instagram and TikTok content.
Traveler reports from 2024-2025 confirm this shift. Weekday first slots no longer guarantee lighter crowds. The influencer cohort arrives early, creating bottlenecks in photogenic spaces.
Evening as the new strategic window
Late evening slots (7pm+) are now less crowded than morning. Official Borderless guidance states the venue "tends to be less busy on weekday mornings AND after 3:00 PM" with weekend crowds thinning "after 5:00 PM."
Dynamic pricing reflects demand: morning and weekend slots cost more (up to ¥5,400-5,600) because they sell first. Evening slots remain available closer to the date and cost less.
How timing affects the rest of your day
A 9am teamLab slot means guide hours in the morning become waiting time. Your guide meets you at your hotel, travels to Toyosu or Azabudai Hills, and then pauses while you experience teamLab independently.
An afternoon or evening slot keeps morning and lunch hours guide-active. The market breakfast, the museum circuit, the neighborhood walk — these happen first. TeamLab becomes the self-guided finale rather than the awkward beginning.
When TeamLab Might Not Fit Your Guided Day
When the hours are better spent elsewhere
TeamLab doesn't belong in every Tokyo itinerary. Consider skipping if:
Time is limited. A 3-day Tokyo visit with one guided day means 2-4 hours is a substantial commitment where guide expertise sits unused.
You've experienced similar digital art. teamLab operates permanent venues in Singapore, Kyoto, and other cities. If you've seen one, diminishing returns apply.
You prefer guide-enhanced experiences throughout. Some travelers want every hour to include interpretation, context, and storytelling. TeamLab explicitly rejects that model. If that's your priority, traditional culture tours offer the kind of layered explanation that makes temple visits and tea ceremonies meaningful.
Photography isn't your priority. Much of teamLab's appeal is visual documentation. If you're not interested in capturing images, the value proposition weakens.
When teamLab earns its place in a guided day
TeamLab fits certain itineraries well:
Art-focused day (Borderless). Paired with Mori Art Museum and the Roppongi triangle, Borderless becomes one stop in a curated art circuit where the guide adds value at every other venue.
Family day with Athletics Forest (Planets). The January 2025 expansion created genuinely family-oriented spaces. Combined with KidZania or Toyosu Market, this creates a full day where teamLab anchors rather than dominates.
Waterfront day (Planets + Toyosu). Sushi breakfast, teamLab, onsen footbath, sunset at the waterfront — the surrounding ecosystem makes the self-guided hours feel intentional rather than interruptive.
The key: surround teamLab with experiences where guide value is high. The self-guided hours become a pause, not a gap.
Practical Details — Tickets, Prices, Timing
Current pricing (2025)
Both venues use dynamic pricing based on date and time:
Planets: ¥3,600-5,400 for adults. Children (4-12) ¥1,500-2,000. Under 3 free.
Borderless: ¥3,600-5,600 for adults. Similar child pricing.
Morning slots and weekends sit at the high end. Evening and weekday slots cost less.
Book 2-3 weeks in advance for popular time slots, especially weekends and school holidays. First morning slots sell out earliest. Evening slots remain available closer to the date.
What to know before you arrive
Planets | Borderless | |
|---|---|---|
Shoes | Remove at entry | Keep on throughout |
Floors | Water to knee height; mirrored areas | Hard, flat; mirrored areas |
Clothing | Wear shorts or roll-up pants. Free loan shorts available. Shorts under skirts for mirrors. | White/plain clothes photograph best. Shorts under skirts for mirrors. |
Lockers | Free, accessible between exhibition areas | Free, no access once inside until exit |
Food | Vegan Ramen UZU outside (requires admission) | EN TEA HOUSE café inside |
Accessibility | Water and barefoot areas limit mobility options | Fully accessible |
Both venues:
Only phones and cameras allowed inside. No tripods, selfie sticks, or fanny packs.
No outside food or drinks.
Plan 2-3 hours minimum. Planets now takes 3 hours with the expanded areas.
Where Hinomaru One Fits
Your guide doesn't accompany you through teamLab—they design the hours before and after it. Timing your Toyosu Market breakfast to align with your Planets entry slot, or sequencing Borderless with Roppongi's art museums and Tokyo Tower sunset. The day flows because someone built it that way.
At Hinomaru One, we design culturally rich, stress-free private Tokyo tours for first-time and seasoned travelers. Unrushed. Insightful. Always customized.
