Tokyo’s newest big development, Azabudai Hills is the new home of teamLab Borderless, the digital art museum that has emerged as one of Tokyo's top attractions. The newest "Hills" is also an interesting attraction in its own right, with trippy neo-futurist architecture and public artwork.
Digital Art at teamLab Borderless
Art collective teamLab formed in Tokyo in the '00s and has since become a big name in digital art – an emerging medium that uses digital technology, including augmented reality, to novel and dazzling effects.
While you can now see their works at other global hotspots, like Singapore, teamLab Borderless remains their signature experience, a permanent museum home for over 50 artworks. In addition to many works from the original space in Odaiba are some new ones on display for the first time, including the hypnotic Tunnel into the Mirror Universe, part of the new Light Sculpture Flow series, and the colorful, if vaguely disorienting, Microcosmoses Wobbling Light.
teamLab Borderless has no map or suggested course. It's designed more like a role playing game: the installations feel like discrete worlds, which you can explore at leisure, pausing to interact with digital avatars, which may shift, responding to your presence – or even beckon you to play. Download the teamlab app to unlock more ways to engage with the installations.
Sketch Ocean & Sketch Factory
Sketch Ocean has emerged as one of teamLab's most popular attractions, and one that's especially good for families. All visitors get to design a fish – on paper – which then appears as a digital image in the ocean environment of the artwork. Sketch Ocean segues into Sketch Factory, a souvenir shop where you can order merchandise – T-shirts and totes, for example – printed with your drawings and the date of your visit.
Exploring Azabudai Hills
Each "Hills" has its own look and Azabudai Hills, which opened in late 2023, is the most future-forward yet, with garden terraces and sinuous lines. In the central green space, look out for Miss Forest, a sculpture from Yoshitomo Nara; adjacent, there’s a plaza shaded by a pergola of abstract swirls known as "The Cloud."
Most attractions, including shops and restaurants, are located in the Garden Plaza buildings; teamLab Borderless is in the basement of Garden Plaza B.
