I saw an ad on the internet for the world’s first digital art museum in Tokyo before it opened in June 2018. The images of visitors surrounded by digital art and being part of it looked something special and I had decided I would like to visit there next time when I am in Tokyo.
And so we did. My husband and I were there in February 2019, and we went to the museum on a cold rainy day.
What is Tokyo Digital Art Museum?
This is the world’s first digital art focus museum and it is on the bay side of Tokyo, Odaiba where there are many shopping buildings and amusement facilities in the modern designed area.
Opening hour: 10 am to 7 pm (weekdays), to 9 pm (weekends and public holidays)
Opening hour depends on the season, double check on official website before visiting.
Closing day: Second and fourth week of Tuesday
Fee: 3200 yen per adult, 1000 yen per child under 14 years old.
Official web site: https://borderless.teamlab.art/ <>
How much time do you need to look around?
We spent a good 4 hours in the museum, including waiting time for entry. (We waited for about 1 hour for that.)
You can have a quick look around the place in about 2 hours but it is better to estimate for 3 to 4 hours or longer. There is no floor map, and the dark rooms are changing all the time. You can easily be lost and will have a hard time finding where everything is. Which is fun, but could make you frustrated if you are under tight schedule.
Some of the exhibits require queuing and long waiting to enter, these are well worthwhile.
My experience at Tokyo Digital Art Museum.
When I first checked the details, I thought it was expensive for a museum or any kind of attraction compared to most of the entry fees in Japan. The price made me think twice if I really wanted to do it, but I thought I would regret if I didn’t do it.
And after visiting it, I still think it is expensive for what it is, especially when they pack so many people in at the same time. It is a reasonably big place and there are lots of things to see, but I felt surrounded by people rather than digital art.
I am not regretting about visiting the museum. The concept of the museum was interesting, and I did enjoy wandering around the colourful digital spaces. I think it was the best thing we could do on that cold rainy day, and I’d be thinking about why I didn’t do it if I didn’t visit it on this trip.
I didn’t buy ticket in advance.
It said on the website that if they sell out the pre-sale ticket, they don’t sell any on the day. So I tried to buy one online the day before, but I couldn’t succeed for some reason.
So we went to the museum without the tickets around 1 pm. There were quite a lot of people with pre-sale tickets waiting outside of the museum, but we didn’t have any problem buying tickets on the day, and it was actually quicker to get in.
It was Wednesday, the situation could be different on the weekend.
Inside the museum gets quite hot.
There are lockers before you enter the museum. You need to put 100 yen coin to use it, but I recommend using it. The coin will come back when you return the key, and the inside of the museum gets pretty hot with the number of people and digital facility. Leaving jackets and large bags will make your time significantly more comfortable.
