teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka

Located within Osaka’s Nagai Botanical Garden, teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka is a permanent open-air art space by the collective teamLab. Covering about 240,000 m² and centred around a large pond, the garden - part of a park established in 1974 - serves as a traditional botanical site by day and transforms into a luminous digital environment after dusk.

At night, digital installations seamlessly integrate with the natural surroundings, responding to the wind, rain, movement of visitors, and the behaviour of plants and wildlife. Each artwork exists in direct relationship with the living environment - if the natural elements were removed, the installations themselves would disappear.

The project embodies teamLab’s philosophy of dissolving the boundaries between people, nature, and art. Visitors are invited to experience a world where light and sound move in harmony with the ecosystem, blurring distinctions between observer and environment.

Highlights

teamLab’s Resonating Microcosms in the Common Camellia Garden features clusters of ovoids that transform the garden from day to night. During daylight, the ovoids reflect their surroundings, while after sunset they emit light - 61 “solidified” colours in one version and 57 “liquified” colours in another. The ovoids respond to touch, wind, and rain by glowing more brightly and producing sound, triggering nearby ovoids - and even other installations in the garden - to react in sequence. When undisturbed, they pulse slowly on their own, creating a dynamic interplay between natural phenomena and digital interactivity.

Forest of Autonomous Resonating Life – Eucalyptus: In a eucalyptus grove, glowing ovoids react individually to touch, wind, or movement, changing colour and emitting sound. Neighbouring ovoids respond in sequence, creating waves of light and sound that reveal the presence of others and heighten visitors’ awareness of the shared space.

Pillars that Dance with the Wind: Flexible pillars shift and move with wind, rain, and humidity, forming a constantly changing structure. Their height, number, and motion vary with environmental conditions, creating a dynamic, living installation that also responds to visitors’ presence.

Sculptures of Dissipative Birds in the Wind: This installation visualises the energy birds impart to their environment, combining real-time flight with the memory of earlier movements. When no birds are present, the sculptures remain dark, relying on the surrounding ecosystem to sustain their presence. The work’s boundaries are fluid, highlighting the interconnectedness of life and environment.

Life is Flickering Light Floating in the Dark – Cosmos: Cosmos flowers bloom and glow in the dark, brightening and sounding when visitors approach. Their light and sound ripple outward, activating nearby flowers and revealing the presence of others, enhancing awareness of the shared space.

Floating Resonating Lamps on Oike Lake – Fire: Murano glass lamps float autonomously on the lake, glowing and sounding when approached or moved by wind. Neighbouring lamps respond in sequence, spreading light and sound across the water. When undisturbed, they pulse softly, linking human presence, natural movement, and the environment.

Concrete and Abstract – Secondary Forest Entrance: When visitors enter and pause, clusters of lines emerge and expand, gradually transforming the forest into layered, planar forms that blur the boundary between the natural and digital.

Walk, Walk, Walk – Secondary Forest: Diverse, anonymous figures walk endlessly along the forest edge. Visitors encounter them in real time, reflecting on choice and passage. Inspired by the Zen phrase “Hoho kore dojo”, the work is generated continuously, never repeating, so each moment is unique.

Universe of Fire Particles in the Forest – Secondary Forest: Flames burn continuously in the forest, shaped by darkness and rendered as flowing lines forming three-dimensional collections flattened into a plane. The installation explores fire as both phenomenon and matter. Using the Distributed Fire app, visitors can capture and share flames, spreading them digitally worldwide. The work persists through networks, illustrating teamLab’s concept of decentralised Distributed Art.

Field of Light Colour – Muhlenbergia capillaris: Muhlenbergia capillaris glows in a field, brightening and sounding when visitors pause nearby. The light and sound ripple to surrounding plants, revealing the presence of others and enhancing awareness of the shared space.

Resonating Common Camellia Garden: Trees in the Camellia Garden glow autonomously, pulsing like breathing. Their light responds to signals from Resonating Microcosms – Liquified Light Colour, changing colour and producing sound that spreads to surrounding trees. The effect reveals the presence of others, enhancing awareness of the shared space.

Avenue of Cypress Trees: Visitors’ walking speed and pace shape the music, creating a dynamic auditory experience that changes with each person’s movement.

Resonating Trees: Trees light up and emit sound when people or animals pass, triggering neighbouring trees in a ripple effect. The spreading illumination signals the presence of others, enhancing awareness of the shared environment.

To learn more about the installations - their concepts and ideas - visitors can download the free teamLab App, available on the App Store and Google Play.

Tickets are available from the official ticket store and on the Lawson Ticket Platform. On-site purchases incur an additional fee. A dynamic pricing system is in place, and on-site tickets are sold only for the day, subject to availability.

Opening hours vary depending on the season.