In Japan and also in other countries, one can find a modern art museum from teamLab.
And near the brand new Toyosu Fish Market is teamLab Planets.
According to teamLab:
teamLab Planets is a museum where you move through water. It consists of 4 vast exhibition spaces at its center, and 7 works of art. The artworks are based on art collective teamLab’s concept of “Body Immersive”.
The massive Body Immersive space consists of a collection of installations in which the entire body becomes immersed in the art, and the boundaries between the viewer and the work become ambiguous.
Visitors enter the museum barefoot, and become immersed with other visitors in the vast installation spaces.
Needless to say, I was immediately sold on the concept of teamLab Planets and while KLOOK offered discounted tickets for teamLAB Borderless (the bigger and more crowded art museum), I purchased my tickets about a month in advance from the teamLab Planets website and printed the barcode.
Now, the first question many people may ask is if they can get by going to teamLab without reserving a ticket far off in advance. From what I’ve learned, the answer is yes. Why? Well, there are many half hour slots available for teamLab Planets (see photo below) BUT it’s always good to play safe and reserve in advance!
As you can see, many people are purchasing tickets and looking at the digital sign (X) means, no more tickets available, triangle means it’s close to being sold out and the O represents availability.
Many people coming early, will definitely want to reserve in advance. But for travelers, let’s say that your plan is to visit the new Toyosu Fish Market, you can get your tickets in advance, head to Toyosu Fish Market and walk back to teamLab Planets.
Now, I wanted to visit Toyosu Fish Market in the morning, so I reserved my tickets in advance.
I paid Y3200 (which is like $30 US) earlier this year. I selected the 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. I actually had 9:30 to 10:00, but you get to change I believe once, if the times don’t work for you and they will send you an e-mail with a QR Code.
Now, will going to the location very early do anything special for you? At teamLab Borderless, I would go early. But for teamLAB Planets, not really (unless you want to go early to reserve a ticket). But it’s a different system from teamLab Borderless.
teamLab Borderless sends you a QR Code within 24 hours of your scheduled arrival, so you’ll need to have that QR code read (or screen capture it on your smartphone). Whereas teamLab Planets, if you pre-registered, you can print it out and be ready by the time you get there.
Look at your ticket and it will show the wait time, if it’s 30 min. to an hour, there is no reason to go there before that. I learned that, as I went there about an hour and a half early.
Going earlier did not serve any purpose, nor did it guarantee I would be the first person in my line.
For one, you are going to wait and there are hardly any seats available, and it’s worse if it’s raining because those seats will be wet. Fortunately, if it’s raining, teamLab does provide umbrellas.
But once they create the line, there are people who will be standing near the line area and without knowing where the line starts, you may have families who got there five minutes prior, getting first in line. So, if anything, be there about a half hour or hour before your scheduled visit. Stand by the line areas and once they start the line, lineup and just wait.
But if there is one thing that is important, it’s to read the rules!
This is important! Your pants will need to fold to your knees because of the water. I was wearing skinny jeans, so rolling it up to my ankle was not going to happen. So, they gave me sweat shorts to wear and you have to wear a teamLab lanyard, to indicate you are borrowing their sweat shorts.
Second, once you enter, you will be taken to a locker room, where you lock up your backpack, bags and belongings, socks and shoes as you will need to be barefoot. (NOTE: teamLAB Borderless does not have water, nor do you have to take off your socks or shoes, just only for teamLab Planets).
There is one other thing I will mention, there is a section with a bean bag that sinks like quicksand. If you have a disability, you may ask to skip that section.
In tomorrow’s post, we will discuss what you can see inside teamLab Planets!
