teamLab Planets

teamLab Planets is not a museum you look at; it is one you walk through barefoot, and it has become one of the most visited art experiences on earth. Created by the Tokyo art collective teamLab and set in a vast hangar-like building in Toyosu, on reclaimed land near the new fish market, it is built around the idea of immersing the body in the artwork. You leave your shoes and belongings in a locker, roll your trousers above the knee (free shorts are available to change into), and set off along a dark route through a sequence of large installations that respond to your presence. In one, you climb a stream of warm water flowing down a slope toward you. In another, a floor of soft material swallows your feet so that every step is unsteady and every visitor bounces you as they pass. The famous Infinite Crystal Universe surrounds you with countless strings of LED light reflected endlessly in mirrored floors and walls, changing color and pattern as you move. Then comes the room of knee-deep water where projected koi swim around your legs and, when they touch you, burst into flowers that drift across the surface. In the Floating Flower Garden, thousands of living orchids hang from the ceiling and rise away from you as you approach, so you are always at the center of a sphere of blossoms. Outdoors, a Moss Garden of resonating ovoid shapes changes color with light and touch. Allow about an hour and a half; the experience is scheduled to run through 2027.

Practicalities matter more here than at most museums. Entry is by timed ticket for a specific date and slot, and popular slots — weekends, holidays and late afternoons — can sell out, so book once your dates are fixed. Because you will be barefoot and wading, wear clothes that roll up easily above the knee or plan to use the free shorts; skirts are a problem in the mirrored rooms, and the museum lends wraps for this reason. Phones and cameras are allowed and almost everyone takes photos, but a waterproof pouch or a firm grip helps in the water rooms. Lockers are free. The route is one-way and fairly linear, with staff gently managing the flow, and there are towels before you put your shoes back on. Young children are welcome and usually love it, but the water can reach their waists; the museum is not ideal for people who dislike dark, crowded or mirrored spaces.

Planets or Borderless? teamLab runs two permanent museums in Tokyo, and they are genuinely different. Planets is linear, physical and sensory — water, soft floors, flowers — with a fixed route and a clear beginning and end. Borderless, at Azabudai Hills, is a labyrinth of rooms where artworks wander from space to space, with no map and no set path, so you explore and get lost. Planets is the better choice if you want the iconic water-and-flowers photographs and a contained experience; Borderless if you prefer discovery and more variety. Fans do both, on different days, because each takes a couple of hours of intense sensory input.

Getting there: the museum is a minute's walk from Shin-toyosu Station on the Yurikamome line and about ten minutes from Toyosu Station on the Yurakucho subway line. Combine it with Toyosu Market, where the early-morning tuna auction can be watched from viewing galleries and sushi restaurants serve breakfast, or ride the driverless Yurikamome on to Odaiba for the bayfront and the Rainbow Bridge views. A clever combination ticket pairs Planets with Tokyo Skytree for visitors who want both of the city's big modern hits.