Did you know there’s a room at TeamLab Borderless where you can make your own sea creature and send it swimming through the museum? It’s really fun, it’s not just for kids, and it’s free for everyone with museum admission!
Here’s how!
When you enter the aquarium room, find the doorway leading into the sketch area. (If the museum is busy, there might be a line.)
When the staff member invites you in, stop to choose a paper template from the bins on your right before you take a seat. There are lots of different outlines: fish, sharks, jellyfish, seahorses, and more.
Then find an empty seat at one of the coloring stations.
Use the crayons in the bin to color your creature any crazy way you like.
It’s totally okay to color outside the lines, but a good thing to know is that each template is animated a little differently. Sharks and fish undulate, seahorses wave their tails, jellyfish and octopuses expand and contract.
When you’re satisfied with your creation, it’s time to bring it to life!
Wait your turn at the counter to your right on your way out, and a staff member will scan your drawing before sending you out to watch for it to be released. They come out pretty quickly, from the corner closest to the door of the sketching room. (If yours doesn’t come out within five minutes, tell the staff member at the door and they’ll rescan it for you.)
Woo hoo, there’s my shark! It’s surprisingly fun to follow your creation as it swims around the room.
Every creature is interactive, and if you touch it, here’s what happens. (Mine is the undulating polka dotted shark, but check out the way the other creatures move too.)
Sometimes your creature will disappear into a corner or a door or the ceiling, but be patient and keep looking around the room because it”ll reappear somewhere else. Some creatures escape the room through the door and swim up and down the hall outside!
More tips and tricks for having maximum fun at TeamLab Borderless are here!
And here’s more useful info if you’re coming to Japan:
Practical Japan travel advice—using the trains, how to travel in Japan with food allergies, where to get cash, and stuff like that—is at Travel Tips and Tricks
If you’d like to see the places I take my friends when they come to Tokyo, all my favorite destinations are on The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
and
Click here for all the other Japan goodness on Jonelle Patrick Writes About Japan:
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 