For other uses, see Huis ten Bosch (disambiguation).
Huis Ten Bosch
Aerial view of Huis Ten Bosch
Map
Location1-1 Huis Ten Bosch Machi, Sasebo, Nagasaki 859-3292, Japan
Coordinates33°05′02″N 129°47′17″E / 33.08377°N 129.78812°E / 33.08377; 129.78812
StatusOperating
Opened25 March 1992 (1992-03-25)
OwnerHuis Ten Bosch Tourism Co., Ltd.
General managerKatsuhiko Sakaguchi
ThemeNetherlands
SloganJapan's Largest Theme Park
Operating seasonYear-round
Attendance2.54 million (as of September 2019)
Area152 ha (380 acres)
Websiteenglish.huistenbosch.co.jp

Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス, Hausu Ten Bosu) is a theme park in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, which recreates the Netherlands and displays life-sized copies of old Dutch buildings. The name Huis Ten Bosch translates into English as "House at the Woods/Forest". It is named after Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, one of the three official residences of the Dutch royal family. The park features many Dutch-style buildings such as hotels, villas, theatres, museums, shops, and restaurants, along with canals, windmills, amusement rides, and a park planted with seasonal flowers.[1]

History

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The site of the park was originally a Dutch trading post, which was built in 1609.[2] Afterward, it was an industrial landfill, but during World War II, the site of the theme park was converted into the Harioko Navy College to relieve congestion at Etajima Naval College. After the war, the college was torn down.[1]

In 1979, Yoshikuni Kamichika visited the Netherlands, and became inspired to build an amusement park inspired by the country. In 1983, he had completed the "Nagasaki Holland Village", a Dutch-themed town and theme park 10 hectares (25 acres) in size.[3][4] It was financially successful, so he decided to extend the idea to Huis Ten Bosch, which would be geared more toward adults.[5] He started work on Huis Ten Bosch in October 1988.[3][4] Designed by a group of architects known as "the Committee of the Fifteen", which was chaired by architect Takekuni Ikeda [ja],[6] the park opened on 25 March 1992 and cost ¥2.1 trillion to build,[1][5] receiving financial support from banks and transport companies.[4] The project included the planting of 400,000 trees and the digging of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) of canals. The project also saw the addition of 250 villas, modeled after the town of Wassenaar, and bricks from the Netherlands were imported for its construction. It is named after Huis ten Bosch (translates to "House at the Woods/Forest") in The Hague, one of the three official residences of the Dutch royal family.[3][4]

The park was built during an economic bubble and recorded a peak attendance of 4.25 million visitors in 1996. However, the number of visitors later declined due to the market crash that followed, and the park declared bankruptcy in 2003 with debt of ¥220 billion.[7][8] The rebuilding plan was sponsored by Nomura Principal Finance Company until March 2010, when H.I.S., a travel agency, took over the management by injecting ¥2 billion.[9][3] In 2022, the shares owned by H.I.S. were sold to PAG, an investment firm, for ¥66.6 billion,[10] and shares owned by five other companies were sold to PAG as well, making the total paid to the investment firm ¥100 billion.[11]

The company suffered financially during the pandemic, but started to become more profitable during 2022.[11]

In 2015, the Henn na Hotel (変なホテル, Hen na Hoteru, lit. "Strange Hotel") opened at the park.[12][13] The hotel was the first worldwide to be completely staffed by robots,[14] a project sponsored and funded by the government.[15] The hotel proved unpopular and was refitted as the Hotel Rotterdam, reopening in October 2023.[16][better source needed]

Overview

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Location

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Huis Ten Bosch is open daily from 9.00 AM to 9.30 PM between March and November, and from 9.00 AM to 8.30 PM between December and February. Huis Ten Bosch Station, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company, serves trains arriving from either Nagasaki or Sasebo. The park can also be reached by boat from Nagasaki Airport or Sasebo via Huis Ten Bosch Marina and Harbour.[citation needed] It is located to the south of Fukuoka and to the north of Nagasaki.[5]

It is the biggest theme park by land in Japan as of 2025,[3] with an area of 153 hectares (380 acres).[17] It is located around 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of Sasebo on Hario Island, an area of reclaimed marshland on the main coastline of Kyushu facing Ōmura Bay. Its location in this area of the country reflects the historical relations between the Netherlands and Japan,[18] which began in 1609 when a trading post was opened by the Dutch in Hirado,[19] an island off the coast of Kyushu around 35 kilometres (22 mi) northwest of central Sasebo.[citation needed]

Park

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Huis Ten Bosch contains 11 attractions, 12 museums, 61 shops, 53 restaurants, and five hotels.[6]

The waste products coming from the park are treated to create energy and compost.[1]

The park features many Dutch-style buildings such as hotels, villas, theatres, museums, shops, and restaurants, along with canals, windmills, amusement rides, and a park planted with seasonal flowers.[1] It contains replicas of Gouda Town Hall and the Dom Tower,[8] and a recreation of the original Huis ten Bosch palace and garden, which serves as a museum.[5] The Dom Tower at the park is 105 metres (344 ft) tall.[2] All of the park's museums are integrated into and located in the park. Villas located at the park's canals are available for rent or for rent as timeshares.[5]

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Huis Ten Bosch was used as the set for the 2022 Netflix limited television series Run for the Money.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Nicol, C. W. (7 October 2004). "A 'theme park' that's an eco-friendly dream". The Japan Times.
  2. ^ a b Zeveloff, Julie. "Tour An Exact Replica Of Dutch Village That's Located Smack In The Middle Of Japan". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e Tandler, Agnes (2023-01-27). "Huis Ten Bosch: A Taste of the Netherlands in Nagasaki | JAPAN Forward". japan-forward.com. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  4. ^ a b c d Clavé, Salvador Anton (2007). The Global Theme Park Industry. CABI. ISBN 978-1-84593-210-7.
  5. ^ a b c d e Young, Terence G.; Riley, Robert B. (2002). Theme Park Landscapes: Antecedents and Variations. Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 978-0-88402-285-5.
  6. ^ a b Inaba, Yushi (March 2009). Japan's New Local Industry Creation: Joint Entrepreneurship, Inter-organizational Collaboration, and Regional Regeneration. Alternative Views Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9823079-1-5.
  7. ^ Belson, Ken (27 February 2003). "A Japanese Theme Park Company Fails". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  8. ^ a b Kitamura, Katie (2006-07-30). "For Curious Japanese, Nibbles of Foreign Cultures". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  9. ^ "H.I.S. to take over troubled Huis Ten Bosch park". Asahi Shimbun. 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Japan's H.I.S. sells Huis Ten Bosch theme park to Hong Kong fund PAG". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  11. ^ a b Shimbun, The Yomiuri (2022-09-01). "H.K. fund to pay ¥100 billion for Huis Ten Bosch park". japannews.yomiuri.co.jp. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  12. ^ Lewis, Renee (5 February 2015). "Hotel staffed by robots to open in Japan". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ^ Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (2 March 2016). "Check In With the Velociraptor at the World's First Robot Hotel". Wired.
  14. ^ Mansuri, Misbaah (2024-06-04). "Inside the world's first hotel fully staffed by robots". Wired. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  15. ^ Inagaki, Kana (2017-02-01). "Japan's robot chefs aim to show how far automation can go". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
  16. ^ "ハウステンボス｜公式Webサイト".
  17. ^ Mitchell, Bea (2022-07-22). "H.I.S. considers selling Nagasaki IR theme park Huis Ten Bosch". Blooloop. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  18. ^ "Huis ten Bosch in Japan". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 24 September 1994. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Jubileum 400 jaar Japan-Nederlandse handelsbetrekkingen 1609-2009". 400jaarhandel.nl. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  20. ^ "Run For The Money: Which Celeb Took Home Money and How Big is the Amount? | Leisurebyte". www.leisurebyte.com. 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
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