teamLab Planets Photos: The Best Shots and the Camera Rules

Yes, you can take photos and videos at teamLab Planets, as long as you do not get in other visitors’ way. The official rules ban only three things: flash, any camera support of 30 cm or more (tripods, monopods, selfie sticks), and filming for commercial purposes without permission. Everything else is about practicalities: you are barefoot, often in water, in dark rooms with mirrored floors, and your bag is in a locker.

The rooms that photograph best

teamLab does not rank its own works, so this is a description of what each room gives a camera, from the official artwork notes.

• The koi water room (Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity) is the classic shot: knee-deep water stretching “into infinity”, projected koi swimming round your legs and bursting into flowers when they meet a person. Shoot low, close to the surface, and keep your phone strap on.
• The Infinite Crystal Universe is a sculpture of points of light that extends in every direction. It works for silhouettes against the light. With the teamLab app you can choose stars to throw into it, and they appear in the sculpture.
• Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers asks you to lie down. Photos from the floor upward, with flowers falling over the frame, are the ones that work.
• The Floating Flower Garden fills a room with living orchids that rise as you approach, so a person standing in the opening makes the picture.
• Expanding Three-dimensional Existence in Transforming Space is a room of large spheres of light that change colour as you push through them, which gives strong colour shots.
• The Moss Garden, outdoors, glows after sunset. Book a slot that gets you there after dark if you want it lit; the opening hours page lists sunset by month.

For the full tour of the works in order, see inside teamLab Planets.

Phones in the water rooms

Personal belongings are not allowed in the artwork spaces, but phones are clearly expected: teamLab’s own app is used inside The Infinite Crystal Universe and the Athletics Forest, and each locker displays a QR code to download it. The museum publishes no rule on waterproof cases. Some visitors use a waterproof pouch or a wrist or neck strap in the water rooms; neither is required, and the water is only up to the knee, so a firm grip is usually enough. Free Wi-Fi (“teamLab Planets”) is available if you want to post as you go.

Tripods, flash and the other rules

• No flash. It would wash out the projections anyway.
• No tripods, monopods, selfie sticks or any photographic aid of 30 cm or more.
• Do not block others. At busy times staff may ask people who have stayed in one room for a long time to move on.
• No commercial filming without prior consent.
• You may be filmed. The museum says it may record video inside, including faces, for its own coverage and to train and improve its artworks. Tell staff if you do not agree.

Outfits that photograph well

The two practical points matter more than colour. First, the floors in some rooms are mirrors: the official help page warns that underwear may be visible under a skirt, mini-skirt or wide-hemmed trousers. Second, the water reaches the knee, so anything below it gets wet. Shorts, or slim trousers rolled well above the knee, solve both; the museum lends free shorts in sizes XS to 6L. More detail is on our page on what to wear to teamLab Planets.

Waterproof pouches and what to leave behind

Everything you do not hold goes in a free locker after the entrance gate, 23 × 34 × 37 cm. A small camera or phone and, if you like, a waterproof pouch are all you need. Large camera bags will not come with you. If you are visiting with children, keep a hand free: the museum asks parents never to let go of a child’s hand in the dark rooms.

Book a slot for the light you want

Fewer people in the room means fewer strangers in your frame; the best time to visit page explains the trade-offs. An adult ticket starts at ¥3,800 (about $24) on the official Ticket Store; the booking options are compared on our teamLab Planets tickets page. This site is an independent guide, not affiliated with teamLab.