teamLab Borderless or Planets: Same Studio, Different Building
Tokyo has two teamLab museums, made by the same collective, and people regularly buy a ticket to one while meaning the other. The names do not help: Borderless is in Azabudai and Planets is in Toyosu, and the names say nothing about which is which.
They are not versions of the same place. The difference that matters is not what is inside, but what the building asks of you — what you take off, what you borrow, and how long it is published to run.
We have written about each of them separately, with the prices, the hours and the booking rules. This is the page that comes before those two.
What Each One Asks Of You
| Borderless, Azabudai | Planets, Toyosu | |
|---|---|---|
| Your shoes | No barefoot guidance published | Come off, and your socks with them |
| Getting wet | Not mentioned in its visitor guidance | Water to knee height, even for adults |
| What you wear | Mirror floors — a wrap skirt is lent at the artwork | Something you can roll up |
| Children | Under-3s free | Under-13s need an adult, one per three children |
| How long it runs | Permanent | Published to the end of 2027 |
None of that is about the art. It is about the visit itself, and it is the part people find out at the door.
Planets Takes Your Shoes
The official English page is direct about it: in the water area you experience the artwork barefoot, and you remove your shoes when you enter the locker area. Socks and stockings come off there too.
Then: water levels can rise to knee height, even for adults. The water is chlorinated and the level is managed, but it is real water and you walk through it. The Japanese page adds that small children should bring something to change into.
This is the whole character of the place. It is also why the practical questions about Planets are different from the ones you would ask about a gallery — what a ticket covers and when the museum is open is a separate matter, and we have written it out.
Planets also states an age rule. Children under thirteen cannot be admitted without a parent or guardian over eighteen, and one adult is required per three children, including the children who enter free.
Borderless Lends You A Skirt
Borderless does not mention bare feet anywhere in its visitor guidance. What it mentions instead is the floor.
Some artworks have mirror floors. For customers wearing skirts, a wrap skirt can be borrowed near the artwork.
That single line tells you what kind of building it is. The garment is lent, not required, and it is offered at the artwork rather than at the door. Strollers go to the luggage room rather than to a rack by the entrance, and items over fifty centimetres cannot come in at all.
Both places restrict some areas for pregnant visitors. Neither is unusual in that; we mention it because it is the one rule the two share.
One Is Permanent, One Has A Date
The official pages carry a run for each museum, written the same way, and the two lines are not the same:
| Borderless | February 2024 – Permanent |
|---|---|
| Planets | July 2018 – End of 2027 |
That word — permanent — is the museum's own. So is the date on the other one.
What the date is not is an announcement. There is no closing notice for Planets, no final day, no farewell. The end of 2027 appears where a run length appears, and nothing else is said about it. We looked into what that line does and does not mean, because it is the thing people write in asking about.
For choosing between the two, it comes to this: if you are deciding which to see on a trip you are taking now, the run makes no difference. If you are deciding which to leave for a future trip, it does.
How To Choose
We are not going to tell you which is better. They are made by the same collective, and we have not been to either. What we can do is turn the choice into a question you can answer from what the museums publish:
Are you travelling with a child under thirteen? Planets requires an adult with them, one adult per three children.
Do you mind being barefoot in public, or getting your legs wet? That is Planets in one sentence. If it sounds good, it is the more distinctive of the two. If it sounds like something to avoid, that is a real answer and not a squeamish one.
Are you carrying luggage, or pushing a stroller? Both have somewhere to put it, but the rules differ, and Borderless has a size limit.
Are you choosing for this trip, or a later one? Only one of them has a published end.
And where does the rest of your day happen? Azabudai and Toyosu are in different parts of the city, on different lines.
Once you have picked, the practical questions start: Borderless and Planets each have their own booking rules, and they are not the same either.
Before You Go
Everything above was checked on 9 September 2026 (2026-09-09), on the official English pages for both museums, with the Japanese pages read alongside for the visitor rules.
We have deliberately left out prices, opening hours and booking mechanics. Those move, they differ between the two, and they are written out in the two articles linked above. This page is for the decision that comes first.
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