Huis Ten Bosch

Huis Ten Bosch opened in 1992 on 152 hectares of reclaimed industrial land near Sasebo, and it is unusual among theme parks in that it was built as an actual town rather than a set: brick-built to Dutch specification with materials imported from the Netherlands, with six kilometres of navigable canals connected to the sea, working windmills, a full-size replica of the Dutch royal palace it is named after, and buried infrastructure designed for a permanent population. Homes were sold in a residential district. The environmental engineering was part of the pitch - water recycling, tidal flushing of the canals. Commercially it struggled for two decades and went through bankruptcy before being turned round. What is there now is tulips in spring, roses in early summer, one of the largest winter illuminations in Japan, canal boats, and a large amount of walking.

History

The idea came from Yoshikuni Kamichika, who visited the Netherlands in 1979 and in 1983 opened a smaller Dutch-themed park, Nagasaki Holland Village; its success led him to start Huis Ten Bosch in October 1988. Designed by a group of architects chaired by Takekuni Ikeda, it opened on 25 March 1992 with 400,000 newly planted trees, six kilometres of canals and 250 villas modelled on the Dutch town of Wassenaar. Built during Japan's bubble economy, it peaked at 4.25 million visitors in 1996, then declined and went bankrupt in 2003 with debts of ¥220 billion; the travel company H.I.S. took over in 2010, and in 2015 the park opened the Henn na Hotel, the first hotel in the world staffed entirely by robots (Wikipedia, Huis Ten Bosch).

What to look for

• A built town, not a set - Dutch brick construction with imported materials and real canals.
• Working windmills - full-size, with a palace replica at the far end of the park.
• Six kilometres of canals - navigable and connected to the sea, with boats on them.
• Seasonal planting - tulips in spring and a very large winter illumination.

When to go

Late March to April for tulips; November to April for the illumination. A full day.

Practical notes

It is very large and involves a great deal of walking - the internal transport costs extra. Ticket structures are complicated with several zones and durations. The park is far from Nagasaki city. Summer heat and humidity are punishing on the open brick streets.

Nearby

Sasebo and the Kujuku Islands are north; Nagasaki is south.

Key facts