So I visited these two places yesterday amidst the blossom chasing, but thought they deserved their own blog… because they were both spectacular!

In the afternoon after my walk along the Sumidagawa River, I braved the subway again to see a random exhibition that I had seen on social media… which sounded right down my alley- the Art Aquarium Museum.

This is a modern art space set up on the upper floor of a swanky department store in Ginza that combines light, sound, and fragrance with traditional Japanese culture and artifacts to recall the appreciation of goldfish. Sounds random I know but it was AMAZING!

Here you can find thousands of goldfish (some very rare and unusual breeds that you don’t usually see)…

… swimming in glass vessels of different shapes and sizes and they are illuminated with moving projections and multicolored lights. Each room has a different theme of Japanese culture like origami, lanterns, floral arrangements, bamboo, the red lights district of the Edo period- that plunge visitors into fantastical worlds.

This special spring exhibition of course had the theme of the Sakura including the scent of cherry blossoms. Everything was magical- the goldfish, the sounds, the lights, the atmosphere…living works of art.

Next stop was TeamLab Planets that I have literally wanted to see for years… I had even contemplated flying to Tokyo just to see it. If the thought of going barefooted while climbing waterfalls, being surrounded by floating orchids, chasing Japanese koi carp that turn into flowers when trying to catch them, or even wandering through sparkling crystals in a distant galaxy sound like your sort of thing, then TeamLab is for you. And it certainly is for me!

TeamLab Planets is a museum in Tokyo, full of immersive art installations inviting visitors to explore a world of art through sight, touch, and sound.

Made by teamLab, there are seven sensory-filled artworks that lead you into a sensory- based artistic world accented with lights, water, and sound… closing the gap between art and viewer.

Toshiyuki Inoko created the teamLab project in 2001 in Tokyo. Inoko is a Japanese physicist and mathematician who decided to create a scientists and artists collective to explore the relationship between science, technology, art, and nature. His team comprises more than 500 professionals, including architects, programmers, mathematicians, engineers, physicists, biologists, and artists. Their mission: free the art from its physical realm and transcend borders thanks to digital technology. Go Toshiyuki!

So cool! I loved it so much! It’s all about the experience, getting to walk on water, different textures, and shapes.. and of course colour and light.