Digital Art Museum TokyoHow Long Does teamLab Take? Both Tokyo Museums, Timed
Last reviewed August 2026
If you are wondering how long does teamLab Planets take, you are probably mid-itinerary, working out whether it fits between lunch and something else. The short answer is 90 minutes to two hours at Planets and two to three at Borderless. The longer answer is that neither museum limits your time, so what actually decides your afternoon is the queue, the lockers and how wet you get.
Quick answer The two numbers, and what pushes them up
teamLab Planets takes 90 minutes to two hours. teamLab Borderless takes two to three hours, and stretches further because there is no map and no route to finish. Neither museum imposes a time limit once you are admitted, and neither makes you leave before the next admission slot. What adds unplanned time is everything outside the artworks: the entry queue, the locker area at Planets where shoes and socks come off, and drying yourself if you get wetter than planned.
Key takeaways
- Block 2 hours for teamLab Planets and 3 hours for teamLab Borderless, door to door
- The entry ticket only admits you within 30 minutes of your chosen slot, and there is no refund if you miss it
- Eating at the ramen restaurant inside Planets adds roughly 45 minutes
- First hour after opening is quietest at both, 8:00 at Planets and 8:30 at Borderless
- Both museums in one day is a full day, about 35 minutes apart. The order that works
- Neither allows re-entry, so an underestimated visit cannot be finished later
How Long teamLab Planets Takes
A fixed route through separate rooms, which is why the number is predictable.
Ninety minutes to two hours inside
The walk itself is 90 minutes to two hours at an unhurried pace. The route is fixed, so unlike Borderless there is no risk of wandering in circles and no way to miss half of it.
There is no time limit once you are admitted. The museum does not clear the building between slots, and nobody counts your total visit.
The one exception is room-level: at busy times, staff will ask visitors who have settled in one room for a long stretch to move forward. This is stated policy, not an occasional annoyance, so a plan of sitting in the koi room for forty minutes on a Saturday will not survive contact with a member of staff.
What adds time on top
Add for the queue. It sits outside your ticket time and outside your control, and it is the single most common complaint about this museum. The only product that shortens it is the Premium Pass at JPY 12,000, which removes the fixed entry time and gives priority entry.
Add for the lockers. Shoes come off, and so do socks and stockings, before you go anywhere. On the way out you reverse it, with damp feet.
Add for drying off. Wet clothes are not allowed into the next artwork, so if you turned up in something that does not roll above the knee, part of your visit becomes a towel and a corridor.
Add 45 minutes if you eat at Vegan Ramen UZU inside, which runs 10:30 to 21:30 and serves only light meals until 11:00. You cannot get in before your admission time, and there is no re-entry, so it is a stop on the way through rather than a break.
A Realistic teamLab Planets Visit
Based on a 16:30 entry slot, which is one of the calmer windows. Times are indicative. The only fixed point is the 30-minute entry window; everything after it is your own pace. The full catalogue of teamLab tickets in Tokyo shows which slots each seller offers. The full catalogue of teamLab tickets in Tokyo shows which slots each seller offers.
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16:20
Arrive at Shin-Toyosu
One minute on foot from the north exit. Leaving this to 16:30 exactly is how people lose their slot.
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16:30
Join the entry line
Entry is only possible in the first 30 minutes after the time on the voucher. On a busy day the line itself can eat most of that.
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16:45
Lockers, shoes and socks off
Ask here for the free rental shorts if you are in a skirt or dress, and for rental shoes if yours have no heel support.
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16:55
The water works
Water to knee height, koi scattering into flowers underfoot. The part everyone came for, and where the clock disappears.
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17:40
Floating Flower Garden and the moss works
Living orchids that rise as you approach. Slower and quieter than the water rooms.
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18:20
Out, or ramen
Roughly two hours in. Vegan Ramen UZU adds about 45 minutes; leaving the museum ends the ticket, since re-entry is not permitted.
How Long teamLab Borderless Takes
Same question, much less predictable answer, and the reason is structural.
Two to three hours, with no natural end
Two to three hours is normal. The upper bound is whatever you decide, because the museum does not make you leave before the next admission slot and does not limit your stay.
What makes it unpredictable is that there is no map and no facility pamphlet. Works move between rooms rather than sitting still, so there is no checklist to complete and no moment where you have obviously seen everything. People routinely spend three hours and find out later they missed rooms entirely.
There are also no artwork captions. The teamLab app describes whichever work is nearest to you, and reading it in each room adds real time, worth spending, since without it you leave not knowing what you looked at.
What adds time here
The queue behaves differently: during busy periods the museum may hold visitors outside before entry even with a timed ticket, and admission can be capped when the building is full. Unlike Planets, there is no priority-entry product to buy, no equivalent of the Premium Pass.
There is no restaurant or cafe inside, only vending machines, so nobody loses an hour to lunch here. EN TEA HOUSE is a tearoom that is also an artwork, charged separately, opening 30 minutes after the museum.
And the underrated one: Borderless is genuinely dark. Eyes take a few minutes to adjust at the start, and the first ten minutes are the least productive of the visit.
Where the Time Actually Goes
The artworks are only part of it. This is the whole visit, in both buildings.
Part by part
The rows below assume a moderately busy weekday. On a weekend in a school holiday, add to the queue line and nothing else.
| Part of the visit | teamLab Planets | teamLab Borderless |
|---|---|---|
| Queue before entry | 15 to 40 minutes | 0 to 30 minutes |
| Lockers and shoes | 10 minutes each way | None |
| The artworks | 90 minutes to 2 hours | 2 to 3 hours |
| Drying off or changing | 0 to 15 minutes | None |
| Food inside | 45 minutes at the ramen restaurant | No restaurant, vending only |
| Shop on the way out | 10 minutes | 10 minutes |
| Realistic total | 2 to 3 hours | 2.5 to 3.5 hours |
Book the Slot That Fits Your Day
Admission tickets carry no time limit once you are inside. The guided options fix the museum portion at 1.5 hours and add a second Tokyo stop, which is the predictable choice if your afternoon is tightly planned. Prices and ratings read from the listings in August 2026.
teamLab Planets TOKYO Digital Art Museum Entry Ticket
The Toyosu museum where you go barefoot and wade through the art. Pick an entry window, arrive within 30 minutes of it, then stay as long…
- Cancellation
- Non-refundable
- Operator
- LINKTIVITY Inc.
teamLab Borderless Admission Ticket, Azabudai Hills
The only way to buy Borderless admission on its own without a guided tour attached: teamLab sells tourist tickets through Klook. Adult admission is dynamically priced…
- Cancellation
- Check the platform terms
- Operator
- teamLab, sold via Klook
teamLab Borderless & Imperial Palace History Tour
Ninety minutes inside Borderless with a guide who explains the works, then a walk to the Imperial Palace East Gardens and the Edo Castle stone walls…
- Cancellation
- Free cancellation 24h
- Operator
- MARKEVISION株式会社
teamLab Borderless & Roppongi Hills Skyline Tour
Borderless first, then Roppongi Hills: Louise Bourgeois's Maman spider and 360-degree views over Tokyo Tower from the observation deck. Same operator and the same 1.5 hours…
- Cancellation
- Free cancellation 24h
- Operator
- MARKEVISION株式会社
The Best Time of Day to Go
Both museums open early by Tokyo standards, and almost nobody uses it.
The quiet windows
teamLab Planets opens at 8:00 and runs to 22:00. The first window is the calmest of the day, and the 20:30 slot is the second calmest, the museum stays open ninety minutes past it, and the crowd thins as the evening goes.
teamLab Borderless opens at 8:30 and runs to 21:00. The first hour is the quietest the building gets. On dated nights it runs to 22:00 instead, through 8 to 15 August and on 1-2, 5-9, 12-16, 19, 21-23 and 26-30 October, and on those evenings the last two hours thin out noticeably.
Both stop admitting one hour before closing. An 8pm arrival at Planets is fine; an 8pm arrival at Borderless on a standard day is not.
Dates to avoid entirely
Borderless closes at 17:00 on 1 September, and is shut completely on Tuesday 25 August, Tuesday 8 September and Tuesday 20 October. Planets is closed on Thursday 3 September and Thursday 1 October.
These are irregular one-off closures with no weekly pattern to rely on, so check your specific date on the museum's own calendar before booking anything around it.
The worst combination for both time and money is a weekend afternoon in a school holiday: the longest queue of the week at Planets, and at Borderless the top of the dynamic price range with the highest chance of being held outside.
| Date | teamLab Borderless | teamLab Planets |
|---|---|---|
| Standard day | 8:30 to 21:00 | 8:00 to 22:00 |
| Last entry | 20:00 | 21:00 |
| 8 to 15 August | Open to 22:00 | Standard |
| 1 September | Closes 17:00 | Standard |
| Most of October | Open to 22:00 | Standard |
| Closed days 2026 | Tue 25 Aug, Tue 8 Sep, Tue 20 Oct | Thu 3 Sep, Thu 1 Oct |
Both Museums in One Day
It fits, but it is a day out rather than an afternoon.
The order that works
Kamiyacho to Shin-Toyosu is about 35 minutes. Add two to three hours at each museum and you have used a full day, not half of one.
Go to Borderless first: it opens at 8:30 and the first hour is when its rooms work best, before the crowd makes the mapless wander frustrating rather than freeing.
Finish at Planets: it runs to 22:00, so daylight is irrelevant, and if your clothes end up damp you are heading home rather than into a second building.
Separate days is better if you have them, because neither museum permits re-entry. A rushed lap cannot be repeated, and the difference between the two museums is worth reading before you commit to both, the full comparison sets out what actually differs.
Both museums, with prices and what each ticket includes, sit together on the digital art museum tickets and tours page.
How Much Time to Block
If you have a spare afternoon and want one museum
block 3 hours for teamLab Planets and book an early or late slot
If you are between two other Tokyo bookings
take Borderless, which is 2 minutes from Kamiyacho and needs no locker time
If your schedule is tight and you need a firm end time
book a guided option from the digital art museum tickets and tours, which fixes the museum portion at 1.5 hours
If you want both museums
block a full day, Borderless in the morning, Planets in the evening
If you are visiting with small children
add 30 minutes at Planets for the lockers, changing and the inevitable second look at the koi room
If you are arriving on the last train of the evening
check last entry first, one hour before closing at both museums
Timing Questions
Is 2 hours enough for teamLab Planets?
Yes, for the artworks themselves. Two hours covers the full route at an unhurried pace. What it does not cover is the queue outside, the locker time at each end, or a meal at the ramen restaurant inside, budget three hours door to door if any of those apply.
How long does teamLab Borderless take to walk through?
Two to three hours for most visitors, with no upper limit imposed. Because the museum publishes no map and works move between rooms, there is no point at which you have obviously finished, people regularly stay longer than planned and still miss rooms. More on how Borderless works.
Can I stay as long as I want?
Yes at both. Neither museum limits your stay once you are admitted, and neither requires you to leave before the next admission slot. The only caveat is at Planets, where at busy times staff ask visitors to move on if they have occupied one room for a long stretch.
What happens if I turn up late for my slot?
On the entry ticket compared here, entry is only possible within the first 30 minutes after your selected time, and there is no refund for a late arrival. The museum's own position is more forgiving, speak to staff on site and you can usually still enter later the same day, but that is goodwill, not a refund policy.
Which entry slot should I book?
The first one of the day if you can face it, or the last. At Planets that means 08:00-12:00 or 20:30; at Borderless, the hour after the 8:30 opening. Both are quieter and, at Borderless, cheaper, since admission is dynamically priced by date and demand.
How long between the two museums?
About 35 minutes, Kamiyacho to Shin-Toyosu. Doing both properly is a full day. If you only have half a day, pick one, the comparison sets out which suits which visitor.