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TeamLab Biovortex is the newest and largest digital art museum in Japan by art collective TeamLab.
It features stunning installations that use lights, projections, objects, and sounds in creative ways. Many of them are interactive, and your presence changes the art.
There’s also a large play area with fun activities for kids and adults.
The museum opened in October 2025, and we visited a few weeks later.
In this TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto review, I share what to expect, practical details like how to get tickets (they do sell out), and tips such as when to visit and what to wear.
Contents
TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto Location
TeamLab Biovortex is located a 10-minute walk from the Hachijo East Gate of the main Kyoto Station.
The address is 21-5 Higashikujo Higashi-Iwamotocho, Minami-ku, Kyoto. You can see the location on Google Maps.
TeamLab Biovortex Hours
TeamLab Biovortex opening hours and closing days vary, so it’s best to check the Biovortex website.
It is usually open from 9am – 9pm.
Sketch Factory (where you can buy souvenirs featuring art you created) is open from 11am – 9pm.
Best Time to Visit TeamLab Biovortex
The best time to visit TeamLab Biovortex is at opening on a weekday.
TeamLab is very popular, so we like to book the earliest slot to experience it at its quietest.
If you can’t get the first slot, I would choose an evening time around 5 or 6pm or 3-4 hours before closing.
Ideally, avoid weekends and public holidays.
That said, we visited on a sold-out Saturday on a holiday weekend, and we didn’t find the crowds too bad. So if a weekend is your only option, it’s still worth visiting.
TeamLab Biovortex Price and Tickets
TeamLab Biovortex ticket costs vary depending on the date and time. It ranges from 3600 yen (US $23) to 5200 yen ($34) for adults. Weekends and holidays are more expensive.
You must book in advance for a specific date and time.
They do offer a Flexible Pass where you can enter at any time (on a specified date), but it costs three times the price, so I don’t recommend it.
Tickets go on sale 2-3 months in advance. You might be able to get an afternoon or evening time if you book at the last minute, but if you want the first slot, I recommend booking 1-2 months ahead.
You can book on the TeamLab website or on the authorised reseller Klook.
We’ve used both at different TeamLabs with no problems. Sometimes they have different availability, so it’s worth checking both.
The official website allows you to change dates and times three times (until 2 hours before your booking), whereas Klook doesn’t allow changes.
How Long to Visit TeamLab Biovortex
I would allow around 3 hours to visit TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto.
We were there from 9am – 12pm and didn’t do everything in Athletics Forest.
What to Wear
Don’t wear sandals or heels; you can’t enter Athletics Forest in them. If necessary, they have sneakers you can rent at the entrance to that area.
There are mirrored floors, so avoid skirts or wear shorts underneath.
It’s best to wear comfy shoes and clothes that you will be happy wandering around in for a few hours.
While you can take bags into the museum, I like to leave jackets and backpacks in the free lockers and walk around unencumbered.
If you want to stand out amongst the projections in photos, I would wear plain clothes, perhaps in black.
Is there Food or Drink at TeamLab Biovortex?
Unfortunately, unlike at TeamLab Planets and Borderless in Tokyo, there is no cafe at TeamLab Biovortex for drinks or food.
Since we didn’t bring a bag with our own bottle, we stopped for a brief water break at a vending machine that had cans of water. You need 150 yen cash (no Suica or credit cards). 1000 yen notes and coins are accepted.
When you are in the museum, you can check the TeamLab app for locations of toilets and vending machines.
If, like us, you love the vegan ramen at TeamLab Planets, you can find a branch of Uzu Ramen in Kyoto, which features TeamLab artwork.
It’s about 4km north of TeamLab Biovortex, and the easiest way to get there would be by taxi or Uber in about 10 minutes. You need to book a table in advance.
It’s one of our picks for the best vegan restaurants in Kyoto.
What to Expect at TeamLab Biovortex Kyoto
On Arrival
TeamLab Biovortex is located in a large building in a quiet residential area near Kyoto Station.
When you arrive, follow the attractive walkway around the building to the entrance.
We arrived 10 minutes early for the first 9am slot, and they were already letting people in ahead of us.
I recommend arriving 20-30 minutes early if you want to be one of the first inside.
There are toilets and free lockers just inside the building before the ticket gates. You can also lock strollers and suitcases to a rail in the locker room.
We stored jackets and backpacks in the lockers.
Umbrellas, bags larger than 50cm, food, and drinks without lids are not allowed into the museum.
You can then approach the ticket gates to scan in your tickets.
Entrance is managed differently here than at the Tokyo TeamLabs—people were let in in small groups starting before 9am opening (I don’t know how early they started). This helped spread out the crowds.
You start with a video with information about the museum. You are encouraged to download the TeamLab app (they have free WiFi), but I recommend doing that before your visit.
Then you can enter the space, which consists of five floors.
Underground
Underground is the first area you’ll explore at TeamLab Biovortex.
Although we weren’t among the first inside, it didn’t feel crowded. The first room features flowers projected onto massive walls with lots of side rooms, so everyone heads off in different directions.
We started with Forest of Resonating Lamps, where lamps dangle from the ceiling in a mirrored room, changing colour frequently. It’s a magical space.
At TeamLab, the visitor affects the space, and in this room, if you stand close to a lamp, it shines more brightly. This light then transfers to its neighbouring lamps.
Morphing Continuum, or as we called it, the Ball Room, was our favourite and unlike anything we’ve experienced at other TeamLabs.
You are guided to a spot in a small room before hundreds of lightweight balls descend. They are blown around, hitting you gently until you are enveloped in balls. It’s a wild experience!
Then you are moved to a different position, and the balls change location, like a typhoon swirling around you.
As this is a dark, constantly moving exhibit, taking photos is a challenge.
In Infinite Crystal World, you walk through strings of LED lights that change colour.
This is one of the few rooms that’s also at TeamLab Planets and Borderless, but it felt a little smaller here. It’s always a beautiful one.
Traces of Life is a trippy experience that made me feel a bit sick, but I still loved it.
You stand on a slope at one end of the room and watch swirling projections on the large screens that feel like they are coming towards you.
Silent Radiance Within is a good opportunity to have a seat on the block in the middle of the room and watch the flowers bloom and wither on the walls.
The final room in Underground is The Eternal Universe of Words. You sit on the floor in the middle of the room, watching the immense projections, accompanied by eerie chanting. It feels like the floor is moving.
It’s another brilliant, surreal, and slightly nausea-inducing experience.
Sculpting and Painting
We moved upstairs next to the Sculpting and Painting floor. There are toilets at the start.
Transient Abstract Life and Return was the first room we visited. We had a short wait as only one party is allowed inside the small room for 2 minutes at a time.
While you wait, you can see the others through the mirrored walls walking around the room, full of a swirling mercury-like substance.
When it’s your turn, you put on boots, but the liquid can stain clothes, so move carefully.
It’s a somewhat random experience. Not one of our favourites, but still worth doing.
Massless Amorphous Sculpture, aka the Bubble Room, is next, and this is a TeamLab Biovortex highlight.
You walk through a room full of masses of bubbles that get blown around and immerse you.
Kids had great fun diving into the bubbles.
You have to wear a free mask, and you can buy a poncho for 300 yen ($2). We didn’t wear one and didn’t get too wet. They vacuum the bubbles off everyone as you leave.
Megaliths
Upstairs again is Megaliths in the Eternal Existence of the Open Universe.
I really loved this room with large pillars amongst the mossy surface. The projections on the blocks change, and if you wait long enough, it starts to rain—so cool!
There are several small rooms off from here.
In Living Crystallised Light, you walk through a shallow puddle of shimmering light.
Sea of Solidified Light is a room of crystals in changing colours.
You walk among reflective globes in Resonating Microcosms – Solidified Light.
The Massless Suns and Dark Suns room features small spheres of light dangling from the ceiling.
Strata of Traces is an impressive-looking mess of thin wires in changing colours.
At this point, we’d been in the building for 1 hour and 40 minutes, so we took a water break at the vending machines by the toilets.
Athletics Forest
You go downstairs to reach Athletics Forest, the last area, which is all about interactivity and play. It’s very kid-friendly, but it’s fun for adults too.
We had a short wait to get in and then watched a video explaining the area. You can rent sneakers if you are wearing sandals or heels.
You enter into Graffiti Nature, a large, undulating room with projections of snakes, frogs, lizards and other creatures.
Visitors created these, and I recommend heading to the drawing room to make your own. It’s a relaxing break from the museum, which we needed at this point.
You choose from outlines of various amphibians and reptiles, and then take a seat to colour them in however you like.
Give your finished drawing to the staff member for scanning, and then watch your creature appear on the floor and head off around the room—my frog was so fast!
You’ll find similar colouring experiences at the Tokyo museums, TeamLab Borderless and TeamLab Planets, featuring different animals.
The rest of the floor is dedicated to play. Most of these activities have short waits, so we didn’t do them all. We skipped the slide and the bouncing spheres room (which had the longest line).
At Aerial Climbing through a Flock of Colored Birds, you walk on swinging steps—it’s harder than it looks.
We did Multi Jumping Universe together—two people bounce on an illuminated planet down a route through a star-filled space.
Sketch Ocean is another colouring room, but with a fish theme. We’d done this at TeamLab Borderless, so skipped it.
There’s also a room where you can draw on walls and play games.
Sketch Factory
Before exiting the building, you pass through Sketch Factory, a shop where you can buy products featuring your drawings.
You scan the QR code on your phone or use their tablet. To find your drawing, choose from Sketch Ocean (fish) or Graffiti Nature (reptiles) and then select the type of drawing you did. Scroll through to find yours.
We got a badge for 600 yen ($4), and it only took 5 minutes to make.
You can also buy magnets, hand towels, tote bags, t-shirts, puzzles, and paper art.
Is TeamLab Biovortex Worth it?
TeamLab Biovortex is definitely worth visiting. As the largest TeamLab, there is so much to explore, from beautiful art installations to fun play areas with many unique rooms.
My only complaint is that there’s no cafe—I’d love to see a tea house here like at TeamLab Borderless. It’s so large that we would have appreciated the break.
It’s difficult to choose between the various TeamLab museums in Japan, but I don’t think you can go wrong choosing Biovortex if you are visiting Kyoto.
It makes a great chance of pace from the many temples you’ll likely be visiting in the city.
We were really impressed by Biovortex and feel like TeamLab has taken their museums to the next level here.
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TeamLab Reviews
Kyoto Travel Guides
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