25th September 2019
I sat on the heightened platform, with my back upright and legs outstretched. The loud noises were replaced by silence as my hands pushed away and my hips bade bye to the comfort of the platform. A soft scream escaped my lips as I accelerated faster than I would have preferred – but there was absolutely nothing I could do except for bracing myself for what lay ahead. As I crashed into the cushioned barrier at the end of the incline, I heard a friendly voice say “That was too fast. Take it easy.” The slide had been an underrated pleasure, and I went for it another five times trying to relive my childhood moments again. teamLab Borderless was just getting started with its magic.
True to its name, the digital museum reignites the spark of curiosity. It has no maps – just a few dark halls and numerous interesting hidden rooms full of mind-boggling attractions, encouraging the patrons to go and explore at their pace. The art in the exhibits isn’t static either – it flows in and out of the halls just as people do. The same hall might be unrecognizably different if visited again an hour later. Coming to the Athletics Forest (which was the hall having the slide), Aishwarya and I had a lot of fun jumping on the HUGE trampoline. The projected galaxy image faded into blackness as our stipulated jumping time ran out. Speaking of childhood pleasures, we did spend a tiny chunk of time colouring with oil pastels. The best part of that experience was seeing the images we coloured come to life on the walls of the hall!
While revisiting the joys of childhood was one side of the coin, the other was rekindling the sense of wonder. Experiences such as the floating nest, where we would lie on a mesh of ropes suspended thirty feet in the air and be enchanted by the light and sound show that literally surrounded us from every direction imaginable, and the forest of resonating lamps – a room filled with lamps that would change colour to depict different seasons or things – had us seriously wondering about the frontiers that today’s technology was able to push. Some of the walls (and floors) even had interactive art that responded to our presence.
My favourites were the Light Sculpture exhibit (where over a thousand lights work together to create visuals like the aurora borealis)
and crystal world (A room filled with tens-of-metre-long strips of LED light that could be controlled using the smartphone app. Watching the LED strips recreate natural phenomena like rainfall and thunderstorms was outright crazy!).
An unexpected surprise was the way they managed to blend the Japanese culture into the digital experience. The En Tea House was probably the darkest café I have ever been to – the baristas would serve our beverages in bowls on our seats. The experience was one of a kind because the sensors overhead could detect the presence of the bowls on the table and the amount of the beverage remaining in them. The projected image of growing flowers would just explode into petals on the table as we moved the bowls or picked them up (and re-form as we placed the bowls back on the table), and the image would disappear once our bowl was empty.
TeamLab Borderless was a reminder to take out time and appreciate whatever made life special, and to envision a new world by continuously challenge our boundaries. If you are planning to visit Tokyo any time in the near future, do make time for it – I am sure you will enjoy every second of it.
A Roller Coaster called Life 
Wow! The installations seem pretty radical even in pictures! The experience must have been even more breathtaking in person 😀
Great writeup! I’ll add it to my list whenever I visit Tokyo 🙂
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It was an unparalleled experience! It’s a must visit if you plan to visit Tokyo
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Certainly!
Also, do come out with more posts 🙂
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Japan tourism stonks!!!
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