What is inside
Four areas and a closing date
The four areas of teamLab Planets, how it grew from 2018 to 2025, why no two visits match, and the run the museum gives to the end of 2027.
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Wikipedia describes teamLab Planets as four areas: Water, Garden, Forest and Open-Air. It opened on 7 July 2018 for a limited run and, according to the museum and Wikipedia, now runs to the end of 2027. The Garden arrived in July 2021, and the Forest and Open-Air areas in January 2025.
The four areas
Since January 2025 the museum has been made up of four areas, Wikipedia says: Water, Garden, Forest and Open-Air. Water is where you wade, with levels that the museum says can rise to knee height. Garden holds the orchids and the moss garden. Forest is the physical, playful part. Open-Air adds outdoor works. The museum's own site lists Water, Garden, Athletics Forest, Open-Air and Factory & Store.
From 2018 to 2025
teamLab Planets TOKYO opened on 7 July 2018 in Shin-Toyosu with an original exhibition period until the end of 2020, Wikipedia says. It then comprised four large artwork spaces and two gardens. The Garden was added on 2 July 2021, and on 22 January 2025 the museum expanded its site by one and a half times and opened the Forest and Open-Air areas, with more than 20 new artworks, as Wikipedia records.
A run that ends in 2027
The museum gives its term as 7 July 2018 to the end of 2027. Wikipedia explains that the original period was extended several times, first to the end of 2022, then to the end of 2023, then to the end of 2027 because of the continued popularity of the exhibition. For a traveller the practical point is simple: the museum states an end to its run, so check its site if you are planning far ahead.
Why no two visits match
The museum says its artworks change depending on the presence of people. Of one koi work it says the picture is rendered in real time by a computer program, neither prerecorded nor on a loop, so previous visual states can never be replicated. In practice that means your visit depends on who is in the room with you, and the museum's flower and seasonal versions of works also change through the year.
The Garden
The museum says the orchids in its floating flower garden are alive, growing and blooming with each passing day, and that their scent changes between morning, day, evening and night. The moss garden has ovoids that reflect their surroundings in daylight and shine by themselves after sunset. The museum links the garden to a Zen koan, Nansen's Flower, which it quotes on its site, and notes the saying that mosses were the first terrestrial organisms to appear.
Forest and Open-Air
The Forest area is described by Wikipedia as a creative movement space, Athletics Forest, an educational project for co-creation called Future Park, and Catching and Collecting Forest. The museum says some of its works, such as Catching and Collecting Extinct Forest, can be enjoyed with the teamLab app on a smartphone. The Open-Air area includes outdoor works. The museum also lists artworks inside its restaurant and café, where it says an order is required to experience the work.
The collective behind it
The museum describes teamLab as an international art collective founded in 2001 that brings together artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects. Wikipedia says the group began in 1998 among students at the University of Tokyo and was incorporated in March 2001. Both accounts describe the same mix of specialists.
Who this isn't for
If you want a fixed, unchanging exhibition with a printed list of works and labels to read, this is a different kind of museum, because the museum says its works change with people and with time. If you are planning a visit for a date after the end of 2027, the museum's stated term makes that impossible to promise, and it is worth checking its site again closer to the time.
Frequently asked questions
How many areas does teamLab Planets have?
Wikipedia describes four: Water, Garden, Forest and Open-Air. The museum's own site lists Water, Garden, Athletics Forest, Open-Air and Factory & Store.
When does teamLab Planets close?
The museum gives its term as 7 July 2018 to the end of 2027. Wikipedia says the original run to 2020 was extended several times.
When did the Forest area open?
Wikipedia records that on 22 January 2025 the museum expanded its site by 1.5 times and opened the Forest and Open-Air areas.
Are the artworks fixed?
No. The museum says the artworks change depending on the presence of people, and describes the koi work as rendered in real time, not prerecorded or looped.
Who makes the artworks?
teamLab, an international art collective of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians and architects, according to the museum.
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