teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Review: Is It Worth It? (+Photos)
Last Updated on October 28, 2025 by Kay
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Japan’s newest and largest teamLab has just opened in Kyoto, but as someone who has been to their locations in Tokyo, I wondered whether it would be worth visiting. I dislike crowded places, and central Kyoto is undoubtedly popular with tourists, so I wasn’t very excited when we headed out from our home in Osaka to visit teamLab Biovortex Kyoto.
However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised by teamLab Biovortex Kyoto, enough that I would recommend it to my friends and family (as well as you, dear reader), and I would absolutely go again.
And no, this is not a sponsored post. As with 99% of posts on this humble little blog, I paid out of my own pocket to visit teamLab Biovortex Kyoto, so this review of my experience visiting is completely honest.
Table of Contents
My Experience Visiting teamLab Biovortex Kyoto
My family visited teamLab Biovortex Kyoto on a Saturday morning. We purchased our tickets online about three weeks ahead of time on their website and made sure to secure a ticket for its opening time at 9 AM.
I would have preferred to go on a weekday, especially since it’s cheaper, but alas, my husband is a salaryman and his schedule is just not that flexible, and this is something I wanted to experience with my family.
Located less than a 10-minute walk from Kyoto Station, teamLab Biovortex Kyoto is undoubtedly very easy to get to. We arrived at around 8:50 AM and were surprised that they were already letting people inside!
Make sure you have your digital ticket ready to show the staff before you go inside, because they will check. Like all teamLab exhibits, you cannot purchase tickets on location; you can only do so online and in advance.
The staff directed us to one of two gates. When the lights on the scanner at the gate turn green, you can scan your ticket’s QR code and go to the next waiting area.
One thing that confused me was that the staff directed a small group behind us to the other ticket gate, which was green while ours was red. The staff told them in Japanese to wait but they didn’t understand and, naturally, just scanned their QR Codes and went inside. It didn’t make much of a difference, they probably only got in about two minutes before us, but it was a little annoying.
After you scan your QR Code, the staff will tell you when it’s your turn to enter the next room. This room is dark in order to show a video that gives a brief explanation about teamLab Biovortex Kyoto. When the video is done, you go through a dark hall, which takes you to the teamLab Biovortex Kyoto artworks.
teamLab Biovortex Kyoto spans a whopping three floors and is the largest exhibit in Japan. Like teamLab Borderless in Tokyo, there is no map for the various artworks. You’re meant to explore and stumble on different rooms and artworks, which makes it very enjoyable.
This is why I won’t be sharing which floor each artwork is on, because I don’t want to spoil anything for visitors. Instead, I’ll share my favorite rooms/artworks to least favorite, as well as photos.
Multi Jumping Universe
This was hands down the best area in the Kyoto teamLab exhibit, at least for me.
When you step onto a rectangular trampoline, a planet will appear below your feet. Keep jumping on the planet as you move forward, and it’ll become larger. If you jump on it successfully, it’ll turn into a black hole.
My family did this four times because we loved it so much! I felt like a child again. (Not to mention I love space, so I might be a little biased.)
Megaliths in the Eternal Existence of the Open Universe
This is such a stunning artwork! I felt like I was in another world, although perhaps if it’s full of people, you might feel differently. I loved the massive crystals jutting out of the moss and the beautiful projections of flowers and rain.
Water also falls from the ceiling onto the moss (not on us, thankfully), and light projections cast a rainbow hue across it. This is a sub-artwork called Ephermal Crystallized Rain, which is a part of the Megaliths artwork.
The room with Megaliths also contains Sea of Solidified Light, crystals that reflect the colors of the crystal monoliths, but were a little smaller than I expected.
It’s all very magical and otherworldly, making it one of my favorite areas in teamLab Kyoto. I just wish it were a little more interactive.
My husband liked it as well, especially the moss and the floral scent floating throughout.
What a Loving and Beautiful World
Kanji characters fall from the ceiling, and if you touch them, they’ll cast projections associated with their meaning. For instance, if you touch the kanji for rain (雨), rain will start falling on the wall, and for tree (木), a tree will start growing.
It’s incredibly fun to see how the images on the wall change, and everything looks very beautiful.
Traces of Life
This is a controversial artwork because it can make people very motion sick. In fact, my husband refused to go inside it, and for good reason.
The projections in this room move very fast and come toward you, so I did feel dizzy at times. However, I thought the artwork was stunning and I loved the music that played with it. I felt completely immersed, which is why this is one of my favorites.
This room also contains the Crows are Chased artwork.
Rapidly Rotating Boucing Spheres in the Caterpillar House
These colorful spheres can also be found in Tokyo’s teamLab Planets, and I absolutely love them.
You do need to line up for this, but the line moves very quickly. When we went, there was absolutely no one since we got tickets for the first thing in the morning.
For this artwork, you choose a sphere color and hop from one to another until you reach the end. It’s another interactive activity that I had a lot of fun with, especially since I did it with my daughter.
Graffiti Nature and Beating Earth
This is a large artwork in the middle of a room that no one can possibly miss.
Various reptiles move along the wave-like floor and pillars. What’s especially interesting is that these reptiles exist in an ecosystem. For instance, a snake that eats a salamander will multiply. If you step on a reptile, it will splatter, and if it’s stepped on enough times, it will disappear.
Best of all, these reptiles don’t come out of nowhere — you draw them! There’s an area at the top where you can select a reptile to draw, color it, and when you’re done the staff will scan it and it’ll appear on the floor!
And if you stand in one spot, flowers will start to bloom.
It’s truly interactive as well as educational, and we found ourselves coming back here a lot.
Flowers and People
Beautiful projections of seasonal flowers bloom in this area and move about the walls and floor. If you touch the flowers, the petals will scatter, and they will wither and die.
Undoubtedly, this is a gorgeous place to take photos, but if you’ve already been to teamLab Borderless, it isn’t anything new.
You should still explore this area carefully, though, because you’ll find small rooms that contain other artworks.
The walls in this area will also change to display the following artworks:
- Continuous Life and Death
- Flow Reaches Far (whirlpools on the floor)
- Universe of Water Particles
Infinite Crystal World
Also present in teamLab Borderless in Tokyo, Infinite Crystal Word is probably one of the most picture-worthy areas in teamLab. You can use the teamLab app on your phone to cast different projections onto the light sculptures.
It’s absolutely brilliant, although I don’t think it would be as stunning if there are a lot of people inside, especially since their reflections would end up in your photos.
When we visited, we were lucky enough that hardly anyone was in the room. I have been to teamLab Borderless twice and had never experienced it nearly empty, so needless to say, I was blown away.
My husband usually wants to leave places ASAP, but we spent quite some time here just enjoying the changing artwork and casting different elements onto it.
Silent Radiance Within / Memory of Waves in the Sky
I don’t know whether this should be considered a spoiler or not, but both of these artworks are in the same room.
I loved the flowers blooming across the grey walls, as well as the black waves moving about. There’s an area to sit here and enjoy the artwork, which is perfect because there’s a lot to see here, and I found it very calming and beautifully done.
Morphing Continuum
This was my husband’s favorite room. He said he felt like he was in a washing machine! I felt like I was caught in a storm.
This room contains light metallic balls about the size of your palm. These balls move together to create shapes that remind me of waves or a tornado. At one point, the balls fly about the room and fall onto you, which made me feel like I was in a gentle hailstorm.
Personally, I felt a little overwhelmed in this room with all the flying balls pelting me at times and the other visitors moving about and taking photos, so I wanted to get out.
Future Park
This area consists of two rooms featuring interactive artwork.
In Sketch Ocean, you can color a marine creature and then bring it to life on the wall.
There’s a small room connected to Sketch Ocean where you can “draw” on the walls, and depending on the color of the pen you use, little elf-like characters will react differently.
On another wall, you can move different-shaped magnet-like stamps to create various elements or elicit various behaviors and actions from the little characters.
It’s really interesting and makes you feel like a kid again!
Waterfall Droplets and Sliding Through the Fruit Field
These two artworks are connected to one another.
Waterfall Droplets is a small slope that leads up to Sliding through the Fruit Field. Droplets of water are projected on it, which break apart when you step on them.
Once at the top, you get to slide down and if you slide over a ball, fireworks will appear on the slide and walls.
It ends pretty quickly but it’s enjoyable.
Note that you need to take off your shoes for this experience.
Resonating Microcosms
Similar to the artwork at teamLab Botanical Garden in Osaka, these egg-like sculptures (ovoids) change color when you push them and emit a sound, which the other ovoids respond to.
It’s enjoyable, although I enjoyed the experience at teamLab Botanical Garden in Osaka better since it was in an open space. I think had I not gone to the other teamLab, I would have really liked this room.
Forest of Resonating Lamps
This is another photo-worthy room, but despite only about two other people being in the room with us, it was hard to get a photo without them in it, thanks to the mirrored walls.
The lamps are supposed to resonate and change color if you stand close to them, but we found this didn’t happen all the time. The lamps also always remained a warm color, so although it was pretty, the room got boring pretty quickly.
The Way of Birds
This is another room that I don’t recommend for people who get dizzy or motion sick.
You’re meant to sit or lie down in the room and watch the moving projections on the walls and ceiling. It’s absolutely lovely, but my family found ourselves feeling overwhelmed quite quickly, so we left. Perhaps this was why hardly anyone was in here?
I also overheard some British travelers saying this was their least favorite room, and I don’t blame them!
This room also contains The Eternal Universe of Words artwork.
Balance Stepping Stones in the Invisible World
As the same suggests, this artwork is like stepping on stones over water. It’s a little trippy because you expect there to be water underneath, but there’s none.
The “stones” are cushiony and they wobble, which makes it a little challenging to cross to the other side, but that’s the fun of it. When you step on each stone, light emits outward like a ripple of water.
I would have liked to try it twice but there was a line so I stuck with just experiencing this once.
Floating Cosmic Spheres
One thing I like about this room is that there’s a three-minute limit that’s strictly enforced. However, the experience itself is… fine I guess. Nothing to write home about.
The light projections on the large, clear balloon-like spheres are very pretty, but as the room is small, it’s a little hard to get a nice photo without someone else being in it. (And I say this as someone who went first thing in the morning when there are the least amount of guests.)
You can move the spheres around, which is nice, but overall, I found this artwork pretty but a little boring compared to the others.
Massless Amorphous Sculpture
I felt like I was in a giant bubble bath while experiencing this artwork.
Note that you have to wear a mask to go inside, and this makes sense because it does have a strange smell to it despite only being made with water, air, and soap. Masks are provided for free right outside of the entrance.
You can also pay 300 yen for a raincoat, but it’s not necessary unless you’re wearing something you don’t want to get even the slightest bit wet from bubbles.
The bubble sculptures are impressive when you look up, and it’s fun to go into the little igloo-like crevices and take photos.
However, it was smaller than I expected and the bubbles stick to you (when you leave, the staff will vacuum you down). There are thankfully a few sinks outside where you can wash your hands.
It was interesting to see, but I wouldn’t visit this room again.
Massless Suns and Dark Suns
This artwork reminded me of Christmas lights strung from the ceiling.
These lights respond to movement, shining more brightly, but I found that only a few did so, and they didn’t respond to one another as quickly or strongly as I had expected.
I also thought the room should have been darker for a better experience. But it does make for pretty, otherworldly photos!
Strata of Traces
My family didn’t quite understand this artwork. Perhaps the room wasn’t dark enough but we didn’t see any movement with this artwork during the time we were there. It just looked like wires.
Spherical Crystallized Light
A small artwork, Spherical Crystallized Light consists of exactly what the name suggests. These colorful lights turn off when you move your hand close to them, which is fun, I suppose.
But is it worth lining up for this if there are a lot of people? Nope, I don’t think so.
Living Crystallized Light
For this artwork, you walk into a room that has 5 mm of water in it. The floor is gently vibrating, which creates colorful patterns on the water. As you walk along the walls, you can see how your movements change these patterns.
You can also touch the water, but we found that a little gross, so we decided against it.
I didn’t find Living Crystallized Light as stunning as the other artworks, and we were nervous about the water getting into our shoes, so we didn’t spend much time here.
Aerial Climbing through a Flock of Colored Birds
This is another artwork that’s also at teamLab Planets. You climb on rectangular bars that are suspended by wires, and move from one side of the room to the other.
I was expecting something a little more interactive, so I was disappointed. The bars react to movement, making sounds or shining brightly, but I didn’t really experience that. Perhaps it would have been more noticeable if there were more people? I’m not really sure, but I did it twice and found no difference.
If there’s a long line for this, I suggest skipping it.
Forest of Flow and Light
This is the only non-interactive artwork at teamLab Kyoto, meaning you can’t go inside the room it’s within. However, these swaying rainbow streams are very beautiful to look at.
Transient Abstract Life and Return
This artwork consists of two rooms with floors of gold-like liquid. In one room, you can walk on top of the liquid, and in another, you can wear boots and walk through it and create your own pattern. This will quickly disappear, though.
My daughter said that the liquid changed form when she walked over it (non-boot room), but my husband and I didn’t notice anything.
Massless Sun and the Surface of the Sky
For this artwork, a light is suspended by a wire in a small box.
According to teamLab: “The sphere of light can be clearly perceived in the space as a mass seemingly made of solidified light, however, there is no material surface boundary. The perception of the boundary between the artwork and your body is ambiguous. [The] artwork cannot exist on its own – its existence is a phenomenon created by its environment.”
I think this is why people were placing their hands inside to make shadow puppets. Are you supposed to do that? I have no clue, although the staff told them to make sure not to touch the wire.
If you see people lined up for this, I suggest just walking past and revisiting it with the hope that the line will become shorter later on.
teamLab Kyoto Tips
Here are some tips to help make your visit to teamLab Kyoto more enjoyable.
Buy Your Tickets in Advance
Tickets for teamLab Biovortex Kyoto sell out quickly, especially early morning tickets. I recommend purchasing them as soon as possible, preferably at least a month in advance if you want to go on a weekend. If visiting on a weekday, a week ahead of time should be fine.
Sometimes you might be lucky and can buy tickets online on the day of your visit, but I don’t recommend leaving this to chance if you really want to go.
You can see ticket prices and purchase tickets here.
Get Early Morning Tickets for Fewer Crowds
If you want the least crowded time to visit, secure an opening ticket for 9 AM. We were able to enjoy all of these artworks on a weekend with hardly any people and no lines at times! teamLab Kyoto became considerably more crowded at around 11 AM, with long lines to get into certain rooms.
Save Money with Weekday Tickets
teamLab Biovortex Kyoto uses dynamic pricing, meaning that tickets for weekends and holidays are more expensive. If you want to save money, visit on a weekday and keep an eye out for the cheapest tickets.
Choose Your Clothes Carefully
Try to wear black and stay away from patterns, because this way the projections in rooms such as Flowers and People show up better on your clothes.
Also, some rooms, such as the famous Infinite Crystal World, have mirrors on the floors, so I recommend avoiding wearing skirts (or at least wear some shorts underneath).
Wear Sneakers
Although you can rent shoes (I believe for free) for the Athletics Forest, I still suggest wearing your own sneakers. It’s much easier, and you won’t waste time having to rent them!
So, is teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Worth It?
In total, we spent three hours at teamLab Biovortex Kyoto and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
If you get early morning tickets, teamLab Biovortex Kyoto is absolutely worth it since there will be considerably fewer people. The various artworks are a mix of stunning, interactive, and downright enjoyable. Also, many of the rooms smell incredibly nice, just like flowers.
Honestly, I don’t think we would have liked it as much if we had to line up for different rooms and their artworks.
My husband and I both agreed that out of all the teamLab exhibits we visited, Kyoto was without a doubt the best.
If you’re curious about what the other teamLab exhibits in Japan are like, make sure to read my article on the Tokyo exhibits, as well as the Osaka teamLab.