Dec. 26, 2019. We reserved the whole day for TeamLab Borderless because we weren’t sure what to expect and how long we should budget for this.
NOTE: stop reading if you don’t want spoilers for Borderless. You probably have seen the pictures all over the internet/Instagram of what it’s been like, but part of the magic of Borderless is discovering it for yourself.
We got 2 little rice balls from 7-11, and we went straight to teamLab borderless as soon as we woke up. I planned to be there at 10AM, right when it opened, but we were a bit late, you know how it goes. So it ended up being 11 AM by the time we got there. We thought, stupidly, that since it was Thursday morning, that the rush hour crowds would have subsided at 10 AM. But it was so packed on the first train, and then the monorail to Odaiba was SUPER CROWDED AND HOT. It was so hot that we started sweating. So we got off as soon as we were on the island, and walked the rest of the way to team borderless (instead of going to the direct stop).
When we got there, there were few people on the walkway, but there was a hefty line out the door for Borderless. We were spooked. The workers started telling us to shove each other and form a mob instead of a line. So then we were all in the waiting room, then they told us to mob up and go inside the main area. Some people went left and right to drop off umbrellas, suitcases, or coats, but we did not. We continued straight ahead and went to the line. We were security checked, and then we all stood outside the doorway to the place and watched a TV screen about the rules and the guidelines.
Basically this whole thing was open concept, and there were no borders between any of the art pieces. The art characters could walk around and enter other areas that were dominated by another piece of art. So then we went in. There were three arrows: athletic forest, something about butterflies, and something about an active animals and natures or something. We went straight, into the darkness. And then we saw a lot of darkness, with flowers, birds, and butterflies projected on the wall, changing all the time. There were crows flying around too.
Then we went to the right and watched the show that was the universe cave. There were shows every few minutes, indicated by when the music looped. We were guided to stand on a certain line, closer inside the cave. It was a magical experience of feeling like we were floating, and also zooming through space as the crows’ projection and their paths changed around us. At some point there were terracotta soldiers that came in and morphed weirdly. I felt like i was flying, and the ground was so dark beneath me it felt like i was floating through the universe at light speed. Then the show ended and I was returned to reality. Some of the wall curtains seemed very similar to the wall color, but they were all passages you could explore. The next place we went through was an upstairs area that looked over the main waterfall that was the centerpiece of the main part.
Then we went into the famous LED lights room, and I think you could download an app to control the lights around you. We walked around some more and went into the waterfall room. There were words falling from the sky, and you could catch them or tap the words to collect them and make them come true. It was so cute and fun to see everyone run around, trying to catch the words as they fell from the sky. One important thing to note is that none of this stuff was on a loop. It was responding to the users inside.
Another side room we checked out was a sunflower fields room, and you go from under the stalks of sunflowers to seeing them projected on pads at knee height. It was really cool!
Then we walked to the waves room. There were a few bean bags in the center, and there were wood block print-style waves moving along the walls.
Then we went to a mirrored room filled with super strong beams of light! It felt like a rave or something. It wasn’t as interesting as the other rooms. Then we went upstairs to the more interactive portion of the museum. Since I was wearing block-heeled boots, they made me borrow their flat shoes for this part. We were again encouraged to move as a mob up the stairs to the interactive part.
We saw a hilly landscape with whales, flowers, salamanders, and other creatures floating across on the ground.
Behind the hill, we saw a lot of inflated balls and you could go in and touch them. Touching them would cause them to change colors.
Then we went to a jungle gym type apparatus. Lots of wooden sticks were hung from the ceiling by chains, and were loosely fastened to the ground and to each other at different heights. Because of this, stepping on them would make them move around, so it was actually kind of hard to move across them. It seemed kind of randomly placed there, but it was fun nonetheless.
There was a small area for small children to play, complete with a miniature version of the inflatable balls there. There was another attraction, a bouldering jungle gym that was made with lots of “beanstalks” and all the “leaves” were like little lighted up gumdrop-shaped handholds. The line was so long so we just skipped it. We went to a slide attraction too. It was kind of random, but fit in with the active play areas that seemed to be geared toward kids.
I’ve written a lot so far, but there was still more to do at Borderless. The next item on the agenda: coloring! I colored a salamander, and Masa colored a flower. After scanning it into the system, the flower bloomed where we stood, and the pink salamander started clambering over the hills.
The beauty of this is that the salamanders can walk around and compete for food: snakes. If they don’t get enough food, they fade in color gradually until they disappear. If you step on the salamanders, they also go SPLAT and gradually die. We followed the salamander around for a good 10 minutes before moving onto the next room.
The concept for this next room was similar. We colored a picture of Santa and his reindeer, and it came to life on the walls, delivering presents to the houses below.
After this, we left the play area and switched out my shoes. Then we entered this for-pay cafe area. For $5, you could buy a cup of matcha tea and watch infinite flowers bloom inside. While waiting, there were signs along the waiting area that explained the production and gathering process of the matcha tea that would be served that day. It was a very dark cafe area, with low, long tables and sheer netting around the quiet area. This was so that the projections inside the cafe area would work and look vibrant. For a little more, you could get ice cream as well.
Then we went back downstairs and noticed exhibits and rooms we hadn’t seen before. The first was the famous lamps room. The line curved along the walls, up the stairs, snaked through a waiting area, across to a small space that looked as if it was undergoing renovation, and then back into the waiting area, until finally you were up against the one-way glass, looking inside at the lamps and the people walking through the path. They apparently calculated a path as well as an optimal positioning of the lamps, and the lamps respond to human interaction. You get two minutes in the room, and then you have to leave, due to its popular demand.
It was blue in there for most of the time, but it did turn into warm colors for a bit. It reminded me of that beautiful lamps scene in Tangled.
After this exhibit, I pulled out my phone to make sure we had hit all the attractions. I know that the concept is that you’re supposed to explore but since this was my first and probably only time visiting Borderless, I didn’t want to miss anything. We saw a sign for the crow’s nest and got in line, even though it would be an hour. The line went along the wall, up the stairs, around a bend, and then at the top, there was an attendant helping people into the crow’s nest. I climbed onto the net, and I felt like a spider. There was nothing but space above and below us. We all laid down on the net and looked up, and then the projections started. The Crow’s Nest is apparently where the crows start their journey before they migrate out and into the other areas of the space. The music was really dramatic, similar to the infinite cave display. The crows swooped around, and again I felt like I was simultaneously floating gently and speeding through the air. Finally we had to leave.
After we left the museum, I thanked the lucky stars we got there early. The line was so long that the mob snaked down the stairs and into the parking lot/bus waiting area. It was 3PM by this time, and even people who had pre-bought tickets were not able to get into the museum.
Then we went back to the Airbnb to chillax. For dinner, we went to this place that seemed super authentic. Turns out, it was so authentic that we didn’t even understand what we were ordering. Apparently we ordered very premium and seasonal fish, but we were still hungry after eating $40 worth of food.
We went to a simple tempura place in Roppongi, and this was more our style. The set that I got included tempura-ed shrimp, scallop, fish, seaweed, squash, and beans. Even though it was fried, it still felt really healthy for some reason.
After dinner, we had one more Christmas illumination we wanted to hit. We trained to Shibuya and walked around the area. The illumination is called Shibuya Blue Cave, and it is a tree-lined walkway, all lit up with blue lights. The path leads up to a bell that you can ring.
The ground also had some kind of material on it that made it look very shiny and reflective.
Then, for a late dinner at around 11, we went to Kaikaya by the Sea.
This was probably one of the best meals we had in Japan, and I’m sad that we weren’t able to go back since they were so completely booked out. We were only able to get a table in the first place since someone else had cancelled at the last minute, and it was also the end of the day.
They have a cute origin story. We ordered tuna ceviche first.
Then we had tuna nigiri, made of the tuna that the chef had hand-picked from the markets in the morning. They told us it would take a long time to prepare since they had to cut it directly from the fish at that moment.
The chefs, waiters, hosts, everyone was having a GREAT time. The people at the next table over had such a good time that one lady fell over the stools, drunk and laughing. It was a great homey environment. One of the more memorable restaurants I’ve been to.
Then we trained back home and slept like babies, succumbing to our food comas.
