My planning of the trip to Japan continues. I’ve now reached the point of planning all practical aspects (cue: a letter from the GP among other things). This can be summed in “Goodness, what else do I need to buy and not forget about??”. But we’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s focus on visiting Tokyo 🙂
Spoiler alert, there are books about what to do and see in Tokyo. I wanted to tell you about two places that I’ve wanted to visit for as long as I’ve known about them (a loooong time), and now I know I will make my dream come true. Because I have tickets to these places! Have you heard of these sites?
teamLab Planets – magic and art meets technology
I can’t even begin to tell you how fascinated I have been with this place. Ever since I learned about it, which was pretty much when they opened in 2016, I’ve wanted to go there.
To make it even more sought after, this site is planned to close at the end of 2023! So I simply had to make sure I visit it when I’m in Japan.
What is teamLab?
In the beginning, teamLab was an international artists collective. The team was set up in 2001, and comprises of artists, engineers, CG animators, architects and more. It is a true collaboration of art and technology – something that I’ve been passionate about for years.
They have permanent presence in Japan and China, as well as Singapore and Abu Dhabi. There have been temporary exhibitions around the world, so if you ever hear of them coming to your country, you simply have to see them.
Let the pictures shared by visitors speak for themselves – here’s why I want to go to teamLab Planets while I’m visiting Tokyo 🙂
Image credit: teamLab, Japan Guide, Voyapon
How to get tickets?
Because the place is madly popular, it is advisable that you get tickets well in advance. The tickets are released ca. 3 months in advance, so if you’re coming to Tokyo in September, you’ll be able to book your tickets in June.
So this is one dream coming true. Onto the next one. Equally Wow one 🙂
Studio Ghibli Museum – the heaven for all things Hayao Miyazaki and his imagination
Ok, this is quite a nerdy thing, so I don’t expect you all to know what I’m talking about. Let me explain.
I’d like to think that some of you have seen “Spirited Away”. It is a masterpiece in animation, and rightly won an Oscar for the Best Animated Feature in 2003.
image credit: IMDb, BBC
The Museum opened in 2001, and it’s dedicated to all the incredible stories and characters that Hayao Miyazaki created. You have My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki and her broom, the Cat Bus and lots more. All from the incredible and unique stories and films from Studio Ghibli.
Apart from being a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki (who also emulates the concept of ikigai), I’ve wanted to see this place because it is not like Disneyland. Meaning it’s not in many countries in the world. There are two places like this in Japan – and that’s it! Its uniqueness is undeniable, and I’d hate myself for not going there while visiting Tokyo.
How to get tickets?
Brace yourself. If you’d like to visit the Museum, you need to be prepared to either spend hours online waiting your turn, or getting up in the middle of the night if you’re not in Japan to get the ticket. The Museum’s website says that it is not possible to buy tickets at the museum.
Tickets are released at 10am Japanese time, on the 10th day of the month, for the following month. What did I do? I got up at 2am on the 10th May and joined the queue of 3000+ hopefuls to buy the ticket for one specific day and time in June. 1.5 hour later I got it 🙂 Goodness, that was mad.
There are about a 1000 other places in Tokyo that are worth visiting. Hopefully, I’ll get to at least 5 of them in the days that I’m there with Inside Japan team. But honestly, knowing that I’ll visit the two sites that have been on my dream list for ever makes me dance around my room.