Going Dutch

November 5, 2025

"It ended up feeling a little bit like Disney world or a theme park, but every now and then you could find a quiet street, and it would feel like you were actually in Holland."

- Alison Park-Douglas

We traveled North from Nagasaki by train.  The route was a lazy one that skirted Omura Bay. The last few days the weather has continued to be pleasant and mild.  We are headed for Hiroshima.

We stopped on a single platform across from Huis Ten Bosch.  We got off the narrow platform and across the river we saw this….

To say these buildings and the related architecture were wildly discordant in Japan is an understatement.  Then we learned it is a theme park.  In fact , it is the largest theme park in the country, even surpassing Tokyo Disney.

A Dutch themed amusment park! There were windmills, canals, and clogs.  Yes, they sold stroopwafels.  It was all so NOT Japanese.

And that queerness, made it wonderful.

It is named after Huis Ten Bosch in The Hague, one of the three official residences of the Dutch royal family.  It features reproductions of classical buildings from the Netherlands.  It has been many years since we visited so I don’t remember all the sites clearly.

There used to be a Dutch Colony here dating to 1609.  Over the centuries it went though many phases from an industrial dump to a Navy War College.

In the 1970’s an enterprising man named Yoshikuni Kamichika visited the Netherlands and was inspired to build the park.   In the passing decades it has gone up and down in business from wild success to almost bankruptcy.   Today, it appears stable with large very European hotels, vacation homes, and waterfront vistas.

We would only stay one afternoon here.  Despite being early November, and being in Japan, the place was completely decorated in beautiful Christmas kitsch.

The lights were dazzling including a stage show with Christmas Carols in English that would rival any Disney production.

Overall, the park has a gentle feel.   Most of the rides are VR centered and housed in Dutch Architecture buildings.  Flowers and fountains made it a lovely evening.

Tomorrow, we resume the journey North to Hiroshima and our next Bullet Train.