(Event Period: 8/17 – 9/2) We Checked out teamLab’s Shimogamo Shrine Exhibition

You can access the venue of Shimogamo Shrine via the Keihan line.

(https://sharing-kyoto.com/see_Shimogamo_Shrine)

Hop off at the Keihan “Demachiyanagi Station” and make your way to the venue through the Kawai Shrine.

Pass through the bright red torii gate and past this giant sign to enter the exhibition.

You can purchase tickets online and at convenience stores, but it’s a little complicated. We suggest you buy your tickets on the day at the ticket booth just north of this sign!

We arrived around 9pm and there were absolutely no lines what so ever.

After you pick up your tickets and head through the entrance, you’ll be greeted by this.

The magnificent scene of glowing “ovoid” eggs and colorful trees!

teamLab’s exhibitions aren’t about just enjoying the beauty of the works from afar: the exhibitions are meant to be participated in, so feel free to touch the ovoids and see what happens.

Here in the Tadasu no Mori forest, when you touch the ovoid eggs, they change color and start omitting different sounds; this sends a ripple through the forest and you’ll see the ovoids and trees around you start changing color too.

However, you still have to be gentle when interacting with the ovoids, making sure not to break any of them.

After playing with the lights and you making your way through the forest, you’ll peep something moving on your right.

A line of frogs and rabbits hopping through the forest! And I could have sworn they were running along side us as well!

This work is actually new to this year’s exhibit, and apparently, the animals never make the same move twice. Every time you see them, they’ll be doing something different; it’s like they’re a symbol for life itself.

As you lose yourself to the hopping bunnies, before you know it, you’ll find yourself at the gate to the Shimogamo Shrine.

The ovoids were more clumped up in this area compared to before in the Tadasu no Mori forest. This made every interaction and rippling change of light and sound even more magical to watch.

Next we headed through the torii gate and made our way deeper into the shrine.

Grouped around the shrine gate were even bigger ovoids. We had so much fun playing between these massive eggs; it felt like we were kids again.

After getting slightly lost in the maze of ovoids, we finally headed through the main shrine gate.

Inside, there were giant floating balls!

Of course, these too change color when touched; however, they also rebound in very unexpected ways, so be careful not to get hit.

While pushing around the floating balls, we gradually made our way across the right-hand side bridge, to the Mitarashi pond.

The gradation of color and reflection on the water was absolutely breath taking! Whenever one of the ovoid eggs would tip over, it would send a beautiful wave of color across the water, creating an even more magical reflection in the water. Also, the accompanying sounds of raindrops and waves gave the experience an added feeling of relaxation.

We never tired of watching the waves of color ripple across the pond, so we ended up spending most of our time here. While we were sitting there, mesmerized by the ovoids, a staff member came over and let us know they were about to close for the night, so we gathered up our stuff and began making our way home.