Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden Review and Photos — Worth It?
Last Updated on February 10, 2025 by Kay
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You might be familiar with teamLab, an interactive art museum, in Tokyo but you know there’s a teamLab in Osaka?
In this article, I’ll share my experience visiting teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka with my familiar and whether I would recommend it to others.
Table of Contents
Overview of teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka
Unlike the two teamLabs in Tokyo, teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka is a completely outdoor experience that’s only at night. Since it’s located in a garden, this museum beautifully blends art with nature.
For this reason, I recommend going when the weather is nice outside and absolutely not when it’s raining.
Where is teamLab in Osaka?
teamLab Botanical Garden is located in Nagai Botanical Garden, which is in Higashisumiyoshi Ward. This is a 23-minute train ride on the Midosuji Line from Osaka Station and then a 12-minute walk from Nagai Station.
teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka Tickets
I recommend purchasing tickets in advance since only a limited number of people are allowed in.
Ticket prices vary according to the season and date. Compared to the teamLab museums in Tokyo, they’re quite cheap, especially for kids.
Opening hours and ticket time slots also vary according to month/season. Personally, if you don’t have small kids, I recommend going about thirty minutes after opening time because it’ll be less crowded.
Tickets for teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka can be purchased from the following:
teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka is also one of the many activities you can choose from when using the Klook Pass Kansai. I’ve used this pass to explore various activities in Kyoto (Fu Fu No Yu Onsen, Nidec Kyoto Tower, and TOEI Kyoto Studio Park) and was really amazed by the savings!
🎫 If you’d like a coupon code, use TINYTOTINTOKYO for up to $10 off from Klook.
Note that ONLY tickets purchased through the official teamLab website can be changed or canceled. I purchased my tickets through the official website and made a mistake on the date, but I was able to change it to the correct date very easily by simply clicking on a link in my confirmation email.
Is Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden Kid-Friendly?
Yes, I absolutely think so! I took my daughter when she was five and she loved the experience. In my review, I’ll be sharing how my daughter reacted to teamLab Botanical Garden in Osaka.
It’s also stroller-friendly and children ages five and under are free!
Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden Review and Photos
Since I have a five-year-old who typically goes to bed at around 8:30-9 PM, I bought tickets for right when teamLab Botanical Garden opened, which was a 6:30-7:30 PM slot at the time.
Beforehand, we visited the Osaka Museum of Natural History because they were having a special exhibition about cats and my daughter is obsessed with them. It was really crowded though so I don’t recommend going to any special exhibition there if you’re catching the tail-end of it. However, the rest of the museum was pleasantly empty so my daughter enjoyed exploring the various exhibits.
Make sure not to miss the whale skeleton at the entrance!
I recommend checking out Nagai Botanical Garden as well to see the contrast with teamLab Botanical Garden at night.
There’s also a small outdoor playground if you have kids who need to burn off some energy.
When we were done at the Osaka Museum of Natural History, we decided to have dinner at YANMAR MARCHE NAGAI (highly recommended — they have all-you-can-drink beer, burgers, and kids meals) before heading to teamLab Botanical Garden, which was an 8-minute walk away.
(If you want to grab a coffee and some dessert, check out Sakura Coffee Nagai Park. Their coffee and cakes are not only great but if you’re lucky, you can be seated near their weeping cherry blossom tree.)
Although we arrived at teamLab Botanical Garden about ten minutes before opening, there was already a line of people waiting to get in. However, the line moved very quickly and we were inside right at 18:30!
All of us received a special teamLab Botanical Garden fan, which is always great to have when it’s warm out.
Despite it being the end of September, it was still quite hot in Japan (hello, climate change!) but that made the weather at night quite pleasant.
When considering the number of people that had been waiting to get in, I was worried about the garden being crowded but we had plenty of space.
There’s a set route to take to get the full experience, but there aren’t any staff to tell you where to go so look out for the signs!
We first viewed the colorful glowing ovoids in the camellia garden. These change color when you touch and move them. My daughter loved pushing these back and forth and running from one to another.
My husband and I thought it was fun, too, but only for a few minutes. Instead, I preferred the sight of these mysterious-looking eggs against the dark forest backdrop and photographing them rather than playing.
There are tons of them so don’t worry if it seems crowded when you enter the area. Just keep moving forward and you’ll see plenty where there’s no one else! You can also freely explore all the areas in teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka and go back to any area you like at any time, just like teamLab Borderless in Tokyo.
After this, we looked at “Sculptures of Dissipative Birds in the Wind”, which had colorful swirls projected against screens. These sculptures are supposed to illustrate the energy created by birds flying in the air, which might be a little confusing for kids. My daughter spent a few moments looking at it before moving on to the next piece of artwork.
“Forest of Autonomous Resonating Life — Eucalyptus” consists of massive giant eggs that change color when you push them. The ovoids also respond to one another and change color. The colors are far brighter than the previous ovoids and they look stunning from afar. My daughter and husband enjoyed pushing these back and forth.
From there, we moved to the “Secondary Forest Entrance,” which had lights spread across trees. A new line of light is added whenever people enter the forest.
We also saw “Walk Walk Walk”, which is also at teamLab Borderless and a favorite of my daughter’s. It’s fun to see the procession of animals, all drawn in Japanese-style art.
After, we passed through the “Field of Light Color”, where the lights nestled in the tall grass shine brightly when someone stands close, which then radiates out. My daughter wasn’t too interested in this, although I would have liked to take my time to view it more.
Next, we saw the floating lamps on Oike Lake. These are supposed to change color when someone stands close or if the wind blows but they didn’t change at all when we were there, which was disappointing.
On the way out, we took in the last artwork — “Resonating Crape Myrtles”. These trees radiate light when people walk by alongside a tone. It was quite lovely but personally, I think the magical experience was a little ruined when people passed by us, but that can’t be helped!
If you’re wondering how much time you need at Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden, we spent an hour there.
Is Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden Worth It?
I love gardens and being in nature, so personally, I liked Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden and think it’s worth a visit. It was peaceful and I would like to go again, especially since they sometimes have special seasonal exhibits/artworks as well. I also liked that it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be. But if you want something more exciting, perhaps teamLab Botanical Garden isn’t for you.
It doesn’t have as many interactive artworks as teamLab Borderless or Planets in Tokyo but it’s significantly cheaper and far more spacious. If I were to rate all three, I think teamLab Borderless is the best (you can easily spend hours there), followed by Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden.
You only need about an hour for teamLab Botanical Garden, so it’s easy to fit into an Osaka itinerary and worth a quick visit.
The only downside is that it’s entirely outdoors so you have to be careful about avoiding visiting when the weather isn’t great — for instance, it’s really cold, windy, or if it rains. From what I’ve seen, though, tickets don’t sell out as quickly as the Tokyo teamLabs so I think you’re fine buying them a day or two in advance.
My five-year-old liked it as well so I think Osaka teamLab Botanical Garden is a great place to bring kids, especially since they can run around and interact with lots of the artwork.
(If you’re traveling in Osaka with kids, make sure to read my articles on what to do and my Osaka itinerary!)