teamLab Biovortex Kyoto

teamLab Biovortex Kyoto was inaugurated on 2025, October 7 and is the 3rd permanent digital art museum of the collective in Japan, after the ones of Tokyo (Borderless) and Fukuoka (Forest). teamLab Planets remains a temporary exhibition scheduled to end in 2027. This 1rst digital museum of the Kansai area is an indoor facility and comes as a counterpart of the 2 teamLab outdoor sites: "Botanical Garden" and "Field of Wind, Rain ☔️ and Sun" that have already opened in Osaka, in July 2022 and October 2024 respectively.

This new teamLab address is located within a short walk from Kyoto station and its Hachijo exit (the closest to the Shinkansen 🚅 tracks), in a neighborhood of the south-east of the city still under development. As a matter of fact, Minami ward’s district is currently at the center of a revitalization policy, with a redevelopment project focusing on culture, arts and youth, initiated in 2017 and planned until 2028. Very easy to access by train, the place is located off the beaten tracks of Kyoto’s most popular touristic destinations.

Because of its approximately 50 digital artworks displayed over 10,000sqm, Biovortex Kyoto is considered Japan’s largest teamLab museum. A visit takes at least 2 hours and even half a day to make sure to enjoy all the installations, activities and various ambiances of the museum. Booking a ticket in advance is recommended, preferably choosing an hour slot in the morning or in the early afternoon at the latest. There is no time limit to explore, beside the museum’s closing hour (9 p.m.); any exit, however, is definitive. The museum is opened to all audiences, children as much as adults, and is targeting an international public, with all explanations first provided in English, then in Japanese.

In the same manner as the collective’s other museums, a standard course is indicated and there is no real display of the rooms’ mapping. The installations of teamLab Kyoto are spreading over 4 levels and it is highly recommended to circle back and wander in the corridors of each floor, so as to not miss any room. For example, the level 3 may seem small but it has in fact several hidden rooms.

Environment as the catalyst of unpredictable creation

The majority of the artworks debuting at teamLab Kyoto have been previously exhibited at the teamLab Massless Beijing temporary museum in China that closed in March 31, 2025. The notable installations are:

• Massless Amorphous Sculpture;
• Massless Suns and Dark Suns;
• Traces of Life;
• Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well.

These new installations share a common main theme called Universe of Existence, Universe of Perception and is questioning the environment’s role as it is at the very origin of these artworks. Each artistic creation was indeed born from ephemeral and random phenomena caused by the environment, without the creation being related to a stable structure or a concrete material. On top of that, visitors can interact with the artworks by grazing or touching them or be an integral part of the installation itself, especially with Transient Abstract Life and Return.

Specifically, entering such rooms is submitted to various guidelines and instructions, like wearing boots or a mandatory face mask 😷, or the possibility to purchase a protection vest and shoe covers (not advised) and a warning regarding a possible risk of soap allergy.

The sculptural installation Morphing Continuum is one of our favorite artwork in teamLab Kyoto, as it gives the impression of flying at full speed before ending up engulfed in a tornado of mini-balloons.

Immersive and interactive artworks

Kyoto also has the classic and popular immersive and colorful digital installations trademarks of teamLab, such as:

• Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together, Universe of Water Particles and Continuous Life and Death at the Now of Eternity, opening the exhibition;
• Megaliths in the Eternal Existence of the Open Universe and Eternal Existence of the Sun and Rain;
• The 2 Crystal World artworks;
• Forest of Resonating Lamps: One Stroke - a Year in the Mountains.

They provide beautiful sceneries and interesting light ambiances for amateur photographers; the works Resonating Microcosms - Solidified Light and Sea of Solidified Light makes for ideal photo spot to pose for a souvenir picture.

The upper floor of the museum is home to 2 fun universes, expanding with a touch of sport and educational activities, particularly suitable for children; that is to say:

• Athletics Forest, prompting visitors to move their bodies in four dimensions installations; and,
• Future Park, a space dedicated to collaborative creation, especially by drawing.

The new teamLab Biovortex Kyoto offers a large panel of all styles of digital installations that the artist collective has been exhibiting throughout the world since 2011. While it was sold out for its inauguration, the large number of visitors did not cause any noticeable downgrade of the museum's experience.