“teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka”, created by the popular art collective teamLab, is a permanent nighttime outdoor museum in an outdoor botanical garden. Plants and trees are illuminated by fantastic lights and float beautifully in the botanical garden at night. Here are some of the highlights of “teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka,” which has been gaining popularity both in Japan and abroad since its opening, among locals and tourists alike.

TeamLab is an art collective that has been active since 2001. It is an international interdisciplinary collective exploring the intersection of art, science, technology, and the natural world through collective creation. It is composed of artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects, and other specialists in a variety of fields.

Team Lab’s works are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (Los Angeles), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide), San Francisco Asian Art Museum (San Francisco), Asia Society (New York), Borusan Contemporary Art Collection (Istanbul), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne) and Amos Rex (Helsinki).

This open-air museum at night opened in the summer of 2022 at the Nagai Botanical Garden in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture. The Nagai Botanical Garden, which opened in 1974, reopened in March 2022 with an improved plant growing environment. It has evolved into a lush park with approximately 1,200 species of plants on 240,000 square meters of land, the largest in Japan. The botanical garden during the daytime becomes a space for artworks at night, and “teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka” is open as a permanent nighttime exhibition. Opening hours vary depending on the time of year, so please check the official website.

The exhibition transforms the botanical garden into a light art space, displaying a group of works that use the plants and trees of the garden itself and the behavior of the birds that inhabit it. TeamLab is working on a project called “Digitized Nature,” in which digital technology, which is immaterial, is used to “let nature become art. This is a project in which nature becomes art in its natural state through the use of immaterial digital technology. The artworks in “teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka” will be interactively transformed by the wind, rain, and the behavior of the people in the garden, making the environment and people a part of the artwork. The art space will change with the seasons of the Botanical Garden, spring, summer, fall, and winter.

We recommend purchasing tickets on the official website in advance, as they may sell out.

【Online purchase and purchase at various play guides】

〇Adults High school student and older: 1,800 yen
〇Children Elementary/Junior high school students: 600 yen
〇Discounts for the disabled: 900 yen for a person with a passbook and up to one accompanying person
〇Preschool children free of charge

There are several ways to purchase tickets in advance, please refer to the following. Tickets are for a specific date and time of admission, and there is no limit to the amount of time you may stay after admission.

(1) Purchase tickets from the official ticket website

(2) Purchase tickets from Playguide

・LAWSON TICKET

・Seven-Eleven Ticket

(3) Purchase tickets from the Travel Experience Booking Site

・klook

・KKDAY

(4) Purchase same-day tickets on site

The lighting in the park is dark because of the space to enjoy the light effects. Although the park is well maintained for easy walking, we recommend that you wear comfortable clothes such as sneakers and pants. If you are bringing children, a backpack that leaves both hands free is recommended.
Insects are also a concern during the summer because the botanical garden is outdoors. Don’t forget to bring insect repellant spray.
There are no restaurants in the park. During the summer, there may be lines at the vending machines, so bring a drink with you during the hot season.

In winter, be sure to take adequate winter protection before heading there.

If you want to visit all the works and take your time while taking pictures, you should have 1.5 to 2 hours to enjoy the museum. The park can be crowded during long vacations in Japan and on weekends, so we recommend that you enter the park with plenty of time to enjoy yourself, rather than just before closing time.

The park is largely divided into six areas from A to F, each with its own points of interest. Although there is an entrance, there is no fixed route. You are free to visit any area you like, so please enjoy yourselves by staying longer in the area you are interested in or going back and forth to your favorite areas. If the person you are going with changes, you may be able to see a different view of the area. Depending on the season, you can enjoy different atmospheres of the art space, such as fresh greenery, autumn leaves, and fallen leaves.

The first is “Sculptures of Dissipative Birds in the Wind” in Area C. The light art projected on the three walls looks completely different during the day and at night. It is a huge group of sculptures that continue to depict the continuous energy that the birds actually give to the surrounding environment as they fly around the area. You will not see the art reflected in the current image twice; it is a work of art that should be visited two or three times to enjoy the differences.

The second location is the Camellia Garden area in Area B. In the Camellia Garden, three works are exhibited: “Resonating Microcosms in the Common Camellia Garden – Solidified Light Color, Sunrise and Sunset,” “Resonating Microcosms in the Common Camellia Garden – Liquified Light Color, Sunrise and Sunset,” and “Resonating Common Camellia Garden.”
The works are densely packed together in an oval shape called an Ovoid, which changes dramatically during the day and after sunset. The three pieces are different in size and light, and each has a different atmosphere, The three pieces are different in size and light, and each has a different atmosphere.

The third location is “Forest of Autonomous Resonating Life – Eucalyptus” in Area C, which is independent yet responsive. Each ovoid of light standing densely in a square of eucalyptus is autonomous. When they are swept away by people or blown by the wind, they change the color of their light as they stand up, producing a unique tone. The ovoid responds to the surrounding ovoid one after another, changing to the same color and sounding the same tone in succession. The work is as dense as a person’s height, and as you wade through and into the work, you feel as if you are enveloped in light. The light’s echoes also make the viewer aware of the presence of people in the same space. Please enjoy shaking, touching, and interacting with the work.

The fourth and final location is in Area F, “Floating Resonating Lamps on Oike Lake – Fire”. Numerous lamps float in a real large pond. The gentle light is soothing. When people stand still near the lamps, or when they are tilted by the wind, they shine strongly and sound a tone. The surrounding lamps also respond one after another, shining their light and sounding their tones, and the light continues on to the trees on the small island floating in the center of the pond. Like the “Forest of Autonomous Resonating Life – Eucalyptus,” this work also makes us feel the presence of other people in the same space.

In addition to the permanent exhibits introduced above, the art space at “teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka” also includes exhibits that change with the seasons of the botanical garden: spring, summer, fall, and winter. So far, there have been exhibits of nemophila in the spring and sunflowers lit up in the summer.

Look forward to seeing more of your work with seasonal plants in the future!