Huis ten Bosch, Japan
A replica of an entire Dutch village as a Japanese theme park
May 12, 2019
Dutch fantasy
A Japanese theme park recreating an entire Dutch town. Complete with windmills, canals, tulips, and replica Amsterdam row houses. It’s surreal — the Netherlands filtered through Japanese aesthetics.
Every Dutch building houses a Japanese attraction, like a robot diner or a virtual reality roller coaster.
Huis Ten Bosch is largely made of imported tiles and material from the Netherlands. It really looks and feels like a hyper-perfect Dutch village. Until you notice the surrounding mountain landscape
Perfect replicas
Every detail is meticulously accurate yet somehow uncanny. The architecture is correct, the proportions right, but it’s too clean, too perfect. A Netherlands that never existed.
Cultural reflection
Named after a Dutch palace, built by a Japanese company, it says something about Japan’s relationship with Europe. Fascination mixed with idealization, creating something entirely new.