A New Chapter at TeamLab Planets: Tokyo Attraction Expands

A Vast Art Space to Play and Learn

TeamLab Planets in Toyosu, Tokyo, operated by the renowned digital art collective TeamLab, drew over 2.5 million visitors in 2023 alone. This remarkable feat earned the museum a Guinness World Record as the “most-visited museum dedicated to a single art group.” With demand soaring, the museum has expanded by 1.5 times, adding three new immersive areas.

The largest of these new zones, “Catching and Collecting in the Sacred Forest,” is a space dedicated to observing endangered and extinct animals. Visitors use a custom app on their smartphones to release arrows or nets and capture the animals that appear on the walls and floors. Once caught, detailed ecological information about the animals is displayed on-screen. By catching and releasing, visitors can build a collection of all 82 species inhabiting the forest and ocean—a gamified experience guaranteed to captivate adults as well as children.

Endangered and extinct animals roam through forests and seas. Capture elephants with a single touch. (© Nippon.com)

Another new addition, the “Athletics Forest” area, is designed to encourage visitors to “understand the world physically and think in three dimensions.” The space features sloped and uneven floors, and as visitors walk, jump, and interact, they trigger changes in the artwork—like life-forms that grow in response to movement. This interactive environment invites reflections on the mysteries of nature through active participation.

Step on matching colored spheres to hatch vibrant caterpillar larvae in “Rapidly Rotating Bouncing Spheres in the Caterpillar House.” (© Nippon.com)

Planets emerge underfoot, transforming into stars or black holes with each leap in “Multi Jumping Universe.” (© Nippon.com)

The “Learn and Play! Future Park” area lets visitors actively create art, resonating with the creations of others to continuously evolve the experience. The dolphins and airplanes they draw on paper can be scanned into the art space and set free to roam. Additionally, visitors can turn their designs into custom pin badges or T-shirts through the Sketch Factory feature, adding a personal touch to their artistic journey.

Drawings are brought to life as three-dimensional creatures that soar across walls, controllable via smartphone in “Sketch Umwelt World.” (© Nippon.com)

Add stamps or doodles to a variety of miniature worlds “Where Little People Live.” (© Nippon.com)

The new areas transform the museum into an active space for creative and physical engagement. With its blend of athletics and art-making, visitors of all ages are bound to lose themselves in this immersive world. The expanded TeamLab Planets reopened on January 22, maintaining its original admission prices. It promises to attract not just art enthusiasts but also families, further solidifying its Guinness World Record status.

Traverse suspended rods that produce unique tones in “Aerial Climbing through a Flock of Colored Birds.” (© Nippon.com)

Cross unstable platforms that shift in color and sound in “Balance Stepping Stones in the Invisible World.” (© Nippon.com)

Glide through a field of fruit-bearing trees in “Sliding through the Fruit Field.” (© Nippon.com)

Experience an ecosystem of survival with “Graffiti Nature,” where visitors’ own drawn creatures come to life. (© Nippon.com)

Transform your art into custom goods with Sketch Factory (left); a new shop offering orchids displayed in the garden area (right). (© Nippon.com)

For details on reservations and tickets, visit the TeamLab Planets Tokyo DMM official website. (external link)

(Originally published in Japanese on January 22, 2025. Report, text, and photos by Nippon.com.)