teamLab Borderless with Kids Review: Is It Worth It?
Last Updated on December 9, 2024 by Kay
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If you’re visiting Tokyo with your kids, I highly recommend visiting teamLab Borderless. I’ve been to this interactive museum twice, once before my daughter was born (back when it was in Odaiba, not its current location in Roppongi) and once with her when she was five years old.
Long story short, I found it so much more enjoyable with my daughter. It blows teamLab Planets out of the water (pun intended) and my daughter and I liked it way more.
In this article, I’ll share what to expect when visiting teamLab Borderless with kids and whether it’s worth it. (Although you have already probably gleaned from the previous paragraph that it is absolutely worth it!)
Table of Contents
Where is teamLab Borderless Located?
teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM is located on the B1 floor of Azabudai Hills in Roppongi. This complex alone has a lot of different restaurants, shops, and exhibitions to see, so make sure to look around if you have time.
For instance, there’s a Pokemon exhibition currently running until February 2nd, 2025. We stumbled on this after we visited teamLab Borderless and since there was no queue, my daughter and I went to the Pokemon exhibit’s cafe for lunch.
There was also a free exhibition on the same floor featuring art from manga such as Bleach, which made my nerdy little heart happy.
Nearby, you’ll find Tokyo Tower, Minato Science Museum (which is free!), as well as Roppongi Hills, which has both indoor and outdoor playgrounds as well as a beautiful Japanese garden.
How to Buy Tickets and Cost
You must buy tickets for teamLab Borderless in advance. The tickets sell out quite quickly and although I booked my tickets over a month before we visited, the earliest slots in the morning were already sold out.
I recommend purchasing through the following:
In terms of cost, the price changes according to when you’re visiting. The cost for adults ranges from 3600 yen to 5400 yen.
Children ages 13 to 17 are 2800 yen while those between 4 to 12 years old are 1500 yen.
Children ages three and younger are free!
What to Know Before You Go
- You cannot take strollers into the museum but there is an area where you can leave them
- There are toilets and a room to change diapers but no nursing room
- If your child wants to drink something, ask a staff member to show you to the appropriate room where you can do this. You can also visit the EN TEA HOUSE but be prepared to wait.
- Wear shorts if you are wearing a dress because some floors are mirrors and try not to wear clothes with patterns on them.
teamLab Borderless Review
Our tickets were for 11:30 AM entry so beforehand, we visited the Minato Science Museum since it opened at 9 AM and was free. This is only a 7-minute walk from teamLab Borderless, so it’s the perfect place to visit if you have some time in the morning.
My daughter had a lot of fun here (she loves science museums) and we were able to enjoy a show at the planetarium, which cost 600 yen for me and was free for my daughter since she’s a preschooler (age 5). Also, many of the exhibits here have English explanations!
When we were done at Minato Science Museum, we headed to teamLab Borderless and arrived shortly after 11:30 AM.
Entry was very smooth. Everyone queuing entered via groups and there weren’t that many people when we arrived. We didn’t have to wait at all! To get in, all I had to do was show my QR code on my phone, which I received an email from teamLab when I made my reservation (look for something like Ticket URL — I’m not exactly sure if this will be the same wording in English because my reservation was in Japanese). I also received another email containing the same information the day before our visit.
If you need to put your things somewhere, there is a locker room located near the entrance once you’re inside.
Before you go into the first room, you might notice some signs suggesting that you download the teamLab Borderless app. When you use this app in each room, it gives an explanation about the artwork. I didn’t really have time to read the explanations, though, because I was too busy taking pictures and looking at everything with my daughter!
If you want to download the app before you get to teamLab Borderless, you can do so here.
Since there isn’t a set course to follow, people disperse throughout the museum while exploring it, which helps lessen congestion and crowding. Actually, I think it was less crowded compared to when I first visited several years ago, which was a relief. (Maybe the new Roppongi location is bigger than the previous Odaiba one?)
Some of the stunning artwork at teamLab Borderless flows from one room to another. However, in some areas, the artwork moves throughout the room but doesn’t leave it. I’ll share my thoughts about the different artworks/rooms and my daughter’s reactions.
Keep in mind there are lots of artwork here and I’m fairly certain we didn’t see them all because it’s a little overwhelming, especially with a child (but not in a bad way). We also had another commitment so we had to leave within two hours.
Note that the Light Sculpture artwork was closed when we visited.
Borderless World
These rooms are kind of like the hallways you walk through to get to the other rooms and are located throughout the museum. As mentioned earlier, the artwork flows from one room to another, although in some areas the artwork stays put.
Flowers and People
This is the first area you’ll encounter and is located at both the entrance and exit. There are lots of different kinds of flowers floating along the walls and floor that show the changing seasons in Japan, such as sunflowers, hurricane lilies, cherry blossoms, hydrangea, and more.
This is a beautiful place for photos and enthralled my daughter when we first entered, especially since it’s bright and colorful. She laughed, touched the flowers projected on the walls, chased them, and danced around. It was so cute!
I asked my daughter to take some photos of me, too, and she loved capturing all the flowers projected on my body.
This area also has a nice floral scent to it, adding to the feeling that you’re immersed in a flowery wonderland.
Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders
My daughter loves butterflies so she was happy to see them fluttering about. When she touched the butterflies, they scattered, which was fun for her.
I don’t know why I don’t have a photo of this artwork (maybe I was too busy watching my daughter have fun or there were too many people at the time), so here’s a video:
Walk, Walk, Walk
I think this was one of my daughter’s favorite artworks. People, frogs, and other creatures walk along the walls in a Japanese-style procession.
My daughter followed them as long as she could before they disappeared.
The Way of the Sea: Flying Beyond Borders
This was another fun, interactive artwork consisting of a school of small white fish. When you touch these fish, they change color and the color varies depending on the person. So when my daughter touched some of these fish, they turned a bright pink while my fish turned a light blue color.
These fish move fast but that made it all the more fun for me and my daughter to chase them from one wall to another while touching them so they changed color. (Of course, try not to do this if it’s crowded as you might knock into someone.)
If you don’t see the fish, keep wandering around the main halls and they’ll pop up.
Transcending Boundaries
These are moving waves that are drawn in almost a Hokusai-esque style. Although I absolutely loved this artwork, my daughter wasn’t too impressed and wanted to leave almost right away. She wasn’t scared but she just didn’t feel like it was worth her time!
Universe of Water Particles on a Rock where People Gather
This was another room my daughter (and other kids) liked because you can slide down the rock. Make sure your child doesn’t slide down backward (on their tummy) like my daughter is doing in the picture below because the staff will probably tell them not to do that.
She also liked just sitting on the rock with me and watching all the moving artwork on the walls, such as crows (Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows) and trees (What a Loving and Beautiful World), and pointing them out to me.
Apparently the lines of light on the floor, which is meant to depict water, will have flowers appear if you stand in place or even whirl around your feet but this didn’t happen for us. Maybe it was a timing thing?
You can also touch the “water” on the walls to make flowers appear or bounce off your hand or even head if you stand against the wall. The image below is from my first visit with my husband. (Hilariously, I found a video where I told my husband I wanted to make a Boomerang for Instagram. How things have changed!)
Looking at the pictures from a few years ago, this room was more crowded than it was in the past. However, it didn’t stop me and my daughter from enjoying it!
Infinite Crystal World
This is probably one of the most famous rooms at teamLab Borderless. It’s filled with light sculptures that change color and are absolutely dazzling, which make great photos. Surprisingly, my daughter wasn’t that impressed with this room. She liked looking at the changing lights for about five minutes and then wanted to leave. I think it was overwhelming and a little loud for her.
The aforementioned butterflies can also enter this room and appear on the lights.
Apparently you can use the app to “throw” elements into the Crystal World and change the artwork but it didn’t work for me.
The floor here consists of mirrors so make sure you have shorts on if you’re wearing a dress!
Memory of Topography
This room consists of discs that reflect different artwork. You can walk among the discs, which make you feel like you’re walking through a rice patty or flowers. The aforementioned color-changing fish also come here.
We didn’t spend much time here but my daughter didn’t have much of a reaction to the room. It wasn’t very fun for her.
There was another room similar to this except that the discs were towards the ceiling and you had to weave through ropes. My daughter liked this room more, maybe because it felt like an obstacle course for her and she liked telling me where to go.
Nirvana: Fleeting Flower Shimmering Light
This was a really cool room that my daughter found, consisting of bright and colorful Japanese-style artwork depicting moving animals made of flowers. My daughter quite liked this room since she loves animals. If you wave your hand, the flowers change color.
Dark Waves: Born in Darkness, Return to Darkness
This small room consisted of cubes with moving waves of blue light projected on them. I liked it but likely because the room was dark, my daughter wasn’t much of a fan.
Microcosmoses: Wobbing Light and Environmental Light
This was a room consisting of moving glass spheres that change color. My daughter thought it was pretty and liked looking at them but it was a little boring for her because she couldn’t interact with the artwork.
There is a similar-looking room called Bubble Universe but we missed it. This is another famous room so I probably should have tried harder to find it or even ask a staff member about it but I just didn’t have the time. Below is a video of what it looks like.
Future Park
This was my daughter’s favorite area.
In this interactive area, you get to design and color different kinds of aquatic creatures on a piece of paper and then scan it so they join the ocean of artwork (Sketch Ocean) on the wall. Best of all, the sea creatures move differently depending on their species.
For instance, if you choose a jellyfish, it will “swim” throughout the water in a different way compared to a fish. If you touch the artwork on the walls, it will react to your touch and move as well! My daughter absolutely loved this.
When you enter the room, you’re likely to see a line for another room where you can do the drawing activity. Although the line might seem long, it moves quite quickly. We waited for about ten minutes. You don’t have a time limit when it comes to coloring your sea creature but keep in mind that other people are waiting for their turn, too.
Can you guess what my daughter and I drew?
You can also have your artwork printed on a bag or shirt to take home at the Sketch Factory, but keep in mind that if you make anything trademarked (like a Hello Kitty fish), you will not be able to do this.
EN TEA HOUSE
I didn’t visit the tea house with my daughter because we didn’t have time and there were people waiting in line but I did go back when Borderless was in Odaiba.
I loved seeing the colorful blooming artwork in my drink and I think my daughter would enjoy it as well. I hope to take her there next time.
Below is a photo of my tea when I visited with my husband a few years ago. As you can see, the room is quite dark so you can see the artwork on the tea easily, which might scare young children.
If you want a caffeine-free drink for your child, get the Barley Tea Latte. This cafe doesn’t serve food.
Overall Impression of Visiting teamLab Borderless with Kids
We ended up spending over two hours at teamLab Borderless, and we would have stayed longer if we didn’t have plans. There is no time limit on how long you can enjoy the museum. I think two hours is just enough time to enjoy the museum but keep in mind that each room is always changing.
Kids also might not have enough stamina, especially if they’re younger, to last in the museum for a while, or they might not even like the dark rooms, so be prepared to not be able to see everything. If you go to EN TEA HOUSE, I would add another 30 minutes to an hour to the time you need.
Keep in mind, though, that since there’s no set route or path, it’s easy to feel like you’re going in circles and you might miss some areas like we did. You can ask the staff working there where a certain area is and they’ll be able to help, but my daughter really enjoyed discovering hidden rooms so I only did this once. I’m hoping the next time we go, she’ll find the rooms we missed and feel really happy that she did after I praise her like crazy.
And yes, there will probably be a next time because I think every time you go, it’s a different experience.
I highly recommend visiting teamLab Borderless with your kids, even if they’re babies or toddlers. It’s a unique experience that doesn’t take the whole day and if your children are like mine and love interactive and colorful places that appeal to their senses, they will really enjoy it.