Where to see teamLab art for free in Tokyo

Bulgari Serpenti Sparkle 2022 takes over the massive Bulgari Ginza Tower by lighting up the brand's iconic Serpenti snake icon, which you can manipulate with different colours and patterns through your smartphone.

To activate the installation, simply scan the QR code shown outside the building. From there, you’ll be led to this website where you can select your favourite colour or pattern to showcase on the massive Serpenti encircling the building. Once chosen, just swipe up and the colour or pattern you’ve chosen will be directly transferred onto the snake.

While it’s technically a part of teamLab Planets, this creation is completely free to see if you’re in Toyosu. ‘Universe of Fire Particles Falling from the Sky’ is a digital waterfall that changes its flow based on the viewer’s proximity to the art. The monolith features bright red and orange flames tumbling down, similar to volcanic eruption. Influenced by human presence, the waterfall changes as a person steps onto the floor panel and the shape of the flames change to create a ‘black absolute presence’ behind the person's feet.

You’ll find this teamLab-designed mural, made with techniques similar to those used in traditional Japanese screen paintings, on the first floor of Tokyo Skytree. Spread across thirteen monitors, this hand-drawn and digitally composed mural showcases Tokyo Skytree and its surroundings in a distinct style reminiscent of an Edo-era ukiyo-e (woodblock) print. Look closely and you’ll spot your favourite landmarks, including the Rainbow Bridge, Sumida River and Sensoji Temple, as well as some traditional city festivals and Japanese spirits. 

Ritzy department store Ginza Six is also home to a teamLab piece, ‘Universe of Water Particles on the Living Wall’. The 11m-tall artwork is featured on a wall in the department store and displays a perpetually falling LED waterfall, a quiet, soothing compliment to the surrounding luxury shops. The artwork changes slightly in the morning and in the evening, so be sure to stop by before and after your shopping spree. 

Located inside Kitte, directly across from Tokyo Station, is a continuously changing digital artwork depicting flowers growing, blooming and finally wilting – just like the circle of life. ‘Time-blossoming Flowers’ mirrors the seasonal changes in Japan's flora: you’ll see cherry blossoms in April, hydrangeas in June and pansies in October, amongst many others. The artwork also serves as a clock: every hour on the hour, you’ll see the flowers burst and fall apart. 

A soothing sight inside the Tokyo Medical University Hospital, the piece ‘Flowers and People – Tokyo, a Whole Year per Year’ is an endless loop of pretty pink petals floating in a dark sky. Disguised as a regular painting in a frame, this digital artwork features different sets of seasonal flowers changing over the course of a year, a sort of compact version of teamLab Borderless’s ‘Forest of Flowers and People: Lost, Immersed and Reborn’. Do keep in mind that this artwork is inside a medical facility, and visiting a hospital purely to look at the art is not recommended.