A DUTCH THEME PARK... IN JAPAN?! (huis ten bosch ハウステンボス)

In this episode, Michelle and Alex spend 36 hours at Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス), the largest theme park in Japan, designed to look like the Netherlands. Can they find any Dutch food there?
Episode 104 · Filmed on October 25 and 26, 2023 · Sasebo (Nagasaki), Japan
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0:00 Introduction
0:39 The train to Huis Ten Bosch
0:58 Huis Ten Bosch... in Japan?!
1:58 First impressions
2:15 What is Huis Ten Bosch?
2:34 Flower Road
3:28 First attempt to eat Dutch food...
6:16 Walking around Huis Ten Bosch
6:57 A very strange perspective
7:34 History of Huis Ten Bosch
8:09 More walking around Huis Ten Bosch
8:39 Second attempt to eat Dutch food...
9:56 Domtoren (Dom Tower)
10:44 Riding a bike to Huis Ten Bosch
12:29 Huis Ten Bosch AFTER DARK
13:04 Third attempt to eat Dutch food...
15:31 Hotel Amsterdam
15:56 The hotels in the park
16:30 Hotel Amsterdam (room tour)
16:58 Huis Ten Bosch (the building)
18:53 Hotel Amsterdam breakfast!
19:58 Nijntje shop and cafe! (aka Miffy)
21:18 Fourth attempt to eat Dutch food...
23:35 Our last Dutch experience for the day
23:54 Wrap up
#netherlands #huistenbosch #japantravel
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WHO IS BUNCHARTED?
We're Michelle and Alex, an American expat couple living abroad in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱
In 2020, we quit our jobs to travel the world, and... well, that didn't happen. So in 2022, we decided to make an even BIGGER change by packing up our lives (and our cats 🐈) and moving from Austin, Texas, in the US, to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Subscribe for new videos like this every week!

[@lennartvers1767]

The Netherlands and Japan have a unique relationship. For more than 200 years (1641-1854) the Netherlands was the only Western country that was allowed to trade with the Japanese. The Dutch even had their own little island Dejima (nowadays part of Osaka). This monopoly only ended because of the USA coming in with warships demanding trade with Japan and they got it..

[@DenUitvreter]

The Japanese soon found out the Dutch were all about the money and nothing else so they didn't feel threatened. They allowed only them and the Dutch also did the trade between Japan and China (the VOC did a lot more shipping within Asia than between Asia and the Dutch Republic anyway). This has led to some strange things, like Japanese learning English through Dutch, Dutch loan words in the Japanese language, a map of Europe where the Netherlands is about the size of France, and Japanese people that are still fascinated with the Netherlands. Like some 30 years ago when foreign students from outside Europe were very rare, there was a Japanese student coming to study Dutch.

[@nickdentoom1173]

And whats the funny thing about that, is that we basically shot ourselves in the foot, because we were the first country to declare the USA independent.

[@jbird4478]

Yes, because everyone else wanted to convert Japanese people to christianity and the Japanese government didn't like that. So the Dutch came along and said "we only care about making money". And the Japanese government was like "welcome, friends".

[@DenUitvreter]

@@nickdentoom1173 I blame the French. Because of Louis XIV's aggression we had to invade Britain and pull them out of the Dark Ages to become our ally, we gave them their constitutional parliamentary monarchy and bill of rights, and that got people like Adams and Madison ideas of freedom, they studied the Dutch Republic and translated and summerized our declaration of independence of 1581, and made it theirs.

[@YouSuprised]

Correction: Nagasaki, not Osaka...

[@celidonmv]

This theme interesting.Because you can see how the Netherlands would look like if the country had mountains

[@paulthiel5145]

What are you talking about? We have the Pietersberg 😂

[@celidonmv]

Be real,that is not even real mountain 🤣

[@MacXpert74]

I'm surprised they didn't have something like a "Pannenkoekenhuis" or a "Poffertjeskraam". I think most non-Dutch people like those Dutch foods.

[@roelskiunplugged1134]

Oh, man, couldnt stop laughing at the end with the dutch doctor prescribing.....paracetamol! 😂

[@forkless]

Yep, it doesn't get more Dutch than that! 🤣

[@TheRealDjAres]

Doctor doctor my Leg is broken.....here take a paracetamol😂

[@goudvismannetje]

There is a Belgium program called "Reizen Weas", they also filmed this Theme Park in Japan. They had a guide who told that all the bricks of both the buildings and the paving bricks were originally shipped from the Netherlands, so it are real Dutch bricks they use to build everything. He also explained the reason of the Theme Park, he did say because Japanese people have not many day's for Holidays it is to far to realy travel to the Netherlands, and many want to see the Netherlands. So they build a little Netherlands in Japan itself so they can visit the Netherlands but not have to travel that far, so the not have use to much day's of their holiday's for only the traveling.

[@buncharted]

the bricks were shipped in?? that's amazing yes, it's a VERY long flight, and only 25% of people in japan have a passport! the park is beautiful and remarkably immersive. i just wish there was more dutch food :)

[@goudvismannetje]

​@@bunchartedIn the TV program "Reizen Weas" they only talked about the park itself, so not about the food in the park. So about if there is real Dutch food in the park, they did not show in that program. But Cheesecake I don't believe that's realy Dutch. I think the first Cheesecake is original from Greece.

[@davevanbeers6944]

Thanks for the episode! Such a strange park, but it should have a “pannenkoeken huis” as a finisher. 😊 can’t wait to see what you guys will be exploring next!

[@vincenttayelrand]

A local (tall blonde) Dutch guy used to work at this Japanese theme park during its opening years when it was still profitable as a strictly Holland-experience-abroad park. Just being Dutch paid very well in those days he told me, though the long working hours were quite Japanese ;)

[@grandmartinvandam]

Maybe a trip to Holland Michigan? Many Dutch things there.

[@richard-riku]

I saw this in the Michael Palin travel show "Full Circle" from 1997 and went there myself about 10 years ago. It's really impressive how much effort they put into the buildings and the canals.

[@NRfun]

The kaascake is just called cheesecake in the Netherlands because it's not a Dutch dessert, we often even call it American cheesecake. Kwarktaart however is a Dutch dessert. It's made with kwark and you don't have to bake it. I think the closest to Dutch cheesecake would be something we call MonChou taart, MonChou being a brand of cream cheese. You make the taart with a cookie crumb bottom, just like the kwarktaart, and mostly you would put cherry pie filling on top. But it also doesn't go in the oven.

[@FrankHouwelingBoskoop]

Love the Dutch doctor prescribing paracetamol 😆

[@etienneE]

Thanks for showing this! And you guys make me smile, thanks for that too😀

[@elsvanzwoll]

Van Haren and Hunkemöller 😂😂

[@harrybruijs2614]

The Dutch were allowed to live on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki. They had a monopoly on tradecwith Japan untill 1853. You are turning Dutch. You said goh like a Dutchman when you were amazed.

[@stefaniemoerbeek3050]

I've heard of this park, but never seen anything from it. Thanks for sharing your experience! ❤

[@eddys.3524]

I knew about the Park before, but thanks for showing some of it and commenting on originality issues.

[@kubrabenelli9117]

Kroketten met poedersuiker haha, but yes Fukuoka is pretty amazing.

[@realstage1925]

There used to be a facility in Nagasaki Prefecture that was the root of Huis Ten Bosch. It was Nagasaki Holland Village. The founder was an employee of the town office. When it first opened, it was a small-scale facility converted from a fish restaurant, but later expanded with a huge loan from a financial institution and the participation of many companies. The bold concept of "faithfully reproducing the streets of the Netherlands, which has close ties to Nagasaki Prefecture, in Omura Bay, right down to the bricks on the street surfaces" became a new centerpiece of Nagasaki tourism, aided by the bubble economy in Japan and the increase in domestic travel demand due to the Gulf War. Dutch staff in ethnic costumes were stationed there, Dutch performers put on shows, and a tulip festival was held in the spring and the Dejima Festival in the fall. Dejima was Japan's first full-scale artificial island, built in 1634 as a diplomatic route for Japan. In 1992, Huis Ten Bosch opened, based on the same concept as Holland Village. Nagasaki Dutch Village continued to operate as a satellite park of Huis Ten Bosch, but closed in 2001.

[@CakeboyRiP]

Love your videos 👌🏻 love to see more Dutch-ish experiences abroad

[@joopverhoeven2923]

Tanks for all you'r video episodes I love your channel very much and wish you all the best, keep up the good spirit !

[@Konaboy]

That’s cool you guys went there🤙👍

[@StevenQ74]

Seems like they mixed up kroketten and oliebollen 😀

[@buncharted]

oliebollen stuffed with cheese and topped with powdered sugar… i could definitely get behind that

[@luv4umin471]

when i thinking of oliebollen when i saw those because of the powdered sugar

[@TheRealTMar]

I've watched the Netflix show and it was actually quite thrilling. I'd love to go there for the fun of it.

[@Mart687]

I lived in Gouda for 4 years and 2 years on the markt looking at old city hall with the steps. So it's weird to see that in japan haha. Surprised to see its so big. But great video again guys. And i hope you get better soon!

[@buncharted]

i’m pretty sure it’s the exact same size. very odd! and thank you - all better now 😄

[@user-xi6nk4xs4s]

I knew about the park, but never got a look at it. I think it's rather impressive as far as the buildings go. Otherwise it doesn't seem very Dutch to me, but I'm happy you showed it to us. Good to see paracetamol is exported as a panacea ;o).

[@dutcheric]

They should at least have a HEMA there with the traditional HEMA rookworst.

[@buncharted]

or tompouce!

[@pel666]

I must say I am shocked you went there, even before visiting the Openlucht museum in Arnhem, but I can understand you exploring this curiosity. Ofcourse we are well know (at least I am) with the Japanese version. Go all the way to Japan, to get a lesser experience as what you can have right here in the Netherlands is kinda strange so I have a tip for you. Go to one of the most gorgeous city's of the Netherlands, Arnhem. Visit Sonsbeek Park, and visit the Openlucht museum, get a ride up the Big Church in Arnhem Central, go to the old Indies Airbornemuseum Hartenstein and you probably have a more thrilling visit and learn so much more about traditional Dutch history. While you are in Arnhem, the 2nd WW Oosterbeek Airborne War cemetary also is worth visiting, it makes you humble to see how many unknown people are here with American/Canadian background having made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Arnhem also has probably the greatest Zoo in the Netherlands, called Burgers' Zoo...so plan 2 or 3 days ;)

[@hcjkruse]

Cycling in the north of Arnhem just to show that "Holland" is not flat.😂 It is near that hunting lodge I recommended you

[@aislingbooks]

I agree - I've worked many times in Arnhem's Green Room of its World Trade Center. I've also taken friends with me to the Openlucht Museum and personally love it as one of the best.

[@McAgentZero]

Great day Great time 💖

[@464nescio6]

Amazingly informative.. I am dutch, but never in a zillion years I would have thought of this!

[@_maghetweten]

Nice to watch your experience of Huis ten Bosch in Japan. I do know about it and it gives me Madurodam vibes but on a normal scale. Shame that the kroketten were more like oliebollen with cheese. Also the fries def did not look like Dutch at all. They could use a replica of Hema or Albert Heijn for sure. Tompouce, broodje rookworst, kommetje snert or Dutch stroopwafel/drop would sell. And since sushi is a known dish you would imagine that they would try haring too. I wouldn't mind to run a little Ah2go and sell fresh stroopwafels in Huis ten Bosch, real bitterballen / oliebollen the likes. And while we are at the subject: introduce the famous automatiek dubbed Febo snack corner. So many options! And why no expo of Van Gogh X Pokemon. If they love Nijntje, they love a mashup Van Gogh Pikachu!

[@mareiketje4899]

Guys, I love your videos so much! They're very entertaining AND relaxing to me at the same time. Wish you'd post even more often (would really love daily vlogs - how about Vlogmas? 😬)!

[@buncharted]

thank you! we’re actually going back to one video a week but we plan to make them twice as long. it can be hard to do two videos a week sometimes! to be honest i’ve always wanted to do vlogmas and knock out a daily vlog for a month! but it’ll have to be next year. we have too many exciting things planned for the rest of this year 😁

[@bertdejong3]

This reminds me of a story told to me 25 years ago by the person who lived in Zundert in the house that stands on the place where the house stood where Vincent van Gogh was born. He was contacted by Japanese who wanted to buy his house,to demolish it and rebuild in Japan,even though they were told it wasn't the original house 😂😂 He didn't sell😂

[@frankgeurts3912]

Nijntje Bus,in Utrecht yellow ❤

[@Lumos89]

I've seen some Japanese KZbinrs at huis ten Bosch in Japan. Seeing you there is super fun

[@conniemendeszoon9789]

Fish and chips wrapt in paper, sounds very british to me, all is missing is smash Peas and vineger😅😅😅😅but i enjoy watching you guys having fun in this theme park❤

[@Treinbouwer]

9:32 I never heard the word kaastaart. Cheesecake is used for American and Britisch cheesecake. There is one type of cheese used Dutch pies, although it looks more like thick yoghurt, that is kwark for kwarttaart.

[@buncharted]

that’s what we were saying - it’s interesting how it’s still just “cheesecake” here. even in germany i think it’s called a kasekuchen?

[@grootsyt]

@@buncharted Germans are more averse to English than we are, generally.

[@hortehighwind8651]

At 5:00 I think it’s kwarkballlen. My local bakery sells this too, besides the oliebollen.

[@buncharted]

nee, this had gouda-like cheese on the inside. it was more like a cheese dumpling or something, but kwarkbollen definitely seems closer to it than a kaassouffle! also, i've never heard of kwarkballen before though and now i REALLY want to try it!

[@DidierWierdsma6335]

Where are the Dutch bike lanes? And they don't have the proper Dutch kroketten and frikadellen Dutch fries and Dutch herring. Don't get me wrong i do not hate huis ten Bosch i love huis ten Bosch but they really need to upgrade their park they should have ad Dutch bike lanes and the proper Dutch food period. I love Japan i'm a huge fan of Anime and Manga Japan is awesome love it. Other than that a great video keep up the great work Buncharted👍 En nog een prettige dag toegewenst😊

[@buncharted]

haha i did make that comment but it didn’t make it into the video. definitely needs the bike lanes! i was also really bummed about the lack of anything resembling dutch food. it seems like they used to have it but not anymore. :( which is a shame since herring and stroopwafel are things i’d expect to be pretty popular in japan! still a beautiful park though 😄

[@DidierWierdsma6335]

@@buncharted I agree it's a beautiful park and a huge loveletter to the Netherlands my country. Once again keep up the great work Buncharted👍

[@mballesalles5685]

As a dutchman I would love to go there, and then put on our traditional dutch clothes. Just to see their reaction.. would be kinda funny tbh

[@Stormvogel262]

I ate quite a few cheddar biscuits @ red lobster (over 15 years ago I think) and I can confirm they are worth all the hype. Waaayyy better than the Olive garden bread sticks imo.

[@AxeGaijin]

Yes, Heineken tastes like ditch water everywhere....

[@buncharted]

authentic!

[@erikmulder2574]

What do you do when you want to visit a typical Dutch city? Surely you book a trip to Japan. A bit weird, but cool that you checked it out. I think I would prefer the Dutch bitterballen above the Japanese style of food. Thank you for this Japanese culture insight ❤

[@luv4umin471]

at first i thought maybe it could be oliebollen because of the powdered sugar

[@EGO0808]

Hilarious you get the paracetamol prescribed😂😂😂😂 thats soo Dutch. Did he also mention, that if the symptoms wouldn’t fade, you should come back in 2 weeks?😅

[@buncharted]

basically 😂

[@MichelBaek]

I love Japan and it is nice to this themepark. I’ve seen it for the first time in an episode of ‘Reizen Waes’. Show presented by Tom Waes who travels around the world. The park looks great. But seeing your video makes it clear the food isn’t that great. For foodies like you very sad 😋. ❤❤❤

[@buncharted]

the food was great! just not dutch 😄

[@koosmolema1335]

Great videos 👌 the little cheesecake balls look more like a german food and not dutch. "Berlinerbol" it is called.

[@butenbremer1965]

Happy 10k subbies to you - only 90k more to go for the silver plaque! See ya in 2024 for having accomplished that target.....

[@iamairamusic]

to me its so funny and weird that there is a theme park about my country in japan😂 and wow its also so big, the theme park!

[@mauricevanegeraat7748]

So weird to be in a Dutch town in the middle of Japan!

[@reneolthof6811]

Great video! Too many windmills on one spot - not Dutch? Ever been to Kinderdijk?

[@buncharted]

that’s true

[@Paul_C]

Lot of history between both countries, you should try to bypass your museum fobia and visit the Chinese and Japan part of the Rijks Museum...

[@buncharted]

it’s more of a vlogging in a museum phobia 😅 we will check it out next time we have friends in town! (that’s when we find ourselves in amsterdam…)

[@ikke5212]

😉😊😊

[@Mesmancer]

Japan staat voor mij voor volgend jaar op de planning. Waarschijnlijk gaan we in oktober met een groep vrienden naar Osaka en Tokio. Ondanks mijn hoogtevrees en daaraan gekoppelde vliegangst heb ik er heel veel zin in. Nu nog een cursus Japans. Want met de kennis die ik inmiddels heb opgedaan via New Japan pro Wrestling kom ik niet heel ver vrees ik XD

[@buncharted]

we learned basic phrases like good morning, good evening, thank you, excuse me, etc. and it gets you a long way!

[@HerrFinsternis]

That rice and egg dish looks delicious. Is it something weird specifically in the park or a twist on a Japanese dish? Is so what is it called cause I need a recipe for that.

[@buncharted]

it’s omurice! very popular in japan. we’ve made it at home before as well. without the nijntje stamp on it of course 😄

[@HerrFinsternis]

@@buncharted ah yes thanks. Doesn't look too hard (although it's probably pretty difficult to prepare to perfection) and very versatile in terms of ingredients. Which is one of the things I like about Japanese cooking, the solid base from which to experiment with flavours.

[@kaasmeester5903]

Gotta love the Japanese, they really commit to the bit...

[@jsb7975]

Actually it's the Dutch architecture which stands on it's own, different from Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia. Brick buildings with large windows and a typpical kind of symmetry you will not find in other European countries, exept for England....

[@HerrFinsternis]

Ik kan niet geloven dat dit bestaat 😂

[@frankgeurts3912]

No Nijntje village?

[@buncharted]

watch the video frank!!! 😂😂😂

[@frankgeurts3912]

We are famous worldwide 😂

[@aislingbooks]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Bricolage-ph]

I'm surprised that you call Dutch ketchup sweet because as a child we never had Heinz ketchup at home because my mom found it to sweet, we always had Remia. It almost has double the amount of sugar in it.

[@buncharted]

it’s probably not the sugar content but rather the lack of the vinegar flavor that heinz has. i thought about this same thing when i edited the video 😅

[@Bricolage-ph]

@@buncharted Ah that makes sense.

[@daphneschuring5810]

You are in Japan? I had only a stopover in Tokio :(

[@buncharted]

we’re home now but we were there last week!

[@daphneschuring5810]

And Enjoying the lovely Dutch weather :(@@buncharted

[@JelmerStienstra]

If it ain’t Dutch it ain’t much 💪🏻

[@Maverick21491]

I would have thought that they would have an AH tbh

[@peterjaro6804]

FEBO!?! No FEBO in Japan? I guess that would be one step too far for a gastronomic people like the Japanese...

[@buncharted]

they love fried food in japan!! 😄

[@paulthiel5145]

But they also love their vending machines, so it could easily work out 😁

[@Ron-id1ze]

I like u more and more

[@sefbauwens5764]

No HEMA???

[@buncharted]

no tompouce!!!

[@kingmickey666]

If the giant meteor finally hits the earth and thousand year later aliens will visit this place, I bet they think the Netherlands actually expanded their territory in Japan.

[@buncharted]

hahahaha so true!

[@Rimpelmans]

The Dutch replaced the Portuegese in the 17th century as designated trading partner of the Japanese (there was a Japanese war and the Dutch backed up the winning side and this was their reward), but I find it funny that the Japanese copied stuff from the Portuegese cuisine into their own like Tempura, but as far as I know there are no Dutch influences on Japanese cuisine. Dutch cuisine isn't very refined and I guess the Japanese were not as much into Snert as you guys are.

[@buncharted]

😂

[@elsvanzwoll]

Paracetamol 😂

[@elsvanzwoll]

O honey , you are a dordtsche now. It’s patat. Not friet! It’s a ting a big big thing 😅😘

[@christophedejonge918]

Too mant empty spaces there. We don't have space to just have empty space (or superfluous parking lots)

[@buncharted]

they have a lot more vertical housing in their cities than we have here!

[@patrickvandenende9488]

80 % van alle heineken gaat naar andere landen zoals Japan

[@ronaldvanderstam8662]

Did you realise that the head dress (I guess) is Nijntje... a toon bij Dick Bruna From the Netherlands... I also been there and was a long time ago.... at that time the windmills had the blades rotating the wrong way.... we explained, they did not understand.... But was fun day afterall... :)

[@buncharted]

the last segment is all about nijntje :) that’s actually quite funny about the windmills! overall it looks remarkably like the netherlands but those little things can make it a little unsettling 😅

[@MarcelVolker]

So they dug 6 km of canals to make it more authentic, but they couldn't be arsed to chop down those mountains? Tsk tsk Japan, must try harder. Poor effort, 3/10. 😂

[@buncharted]

😂😂😂

[@christophedejonge918]

shoes and women's underwear... Van Haren & Hünkemüller

[@buncharted]

what more do you need

[@luv4umin471]

@@buncharted HEMA ofc

[@MrWill070]

I feel creeped out. Sorry but its just creepie

[@buncharted]

haha it is a little creepy isn’t it

[@MrWill070]

​@@bunchartedit is, for me as a dutch person it feels like they try to make money of us . And I really dont wanna go there because I dont want to Hurt those people with my words but im dutch so you know whats thats like. And I showed it to my friend and now he wants to go WITH me! 😢

[@MacXpert74]

@@MrWill070I would say that's a bit of a negative way of looking at it. I think we can be proud that the Japanese valued the Dutch relation to such a level that they made this theme park, which should be more seen as a something similar to the 'Openlucht museum' we have in the Netherlands. I think the idea behind it originally was that a lot of Japanese people don't have the time to visit Europe and the Netherlands, and this gave them some 'flavour' of what different places in the Netherlands are like (to a certain degree at least). I do think they missed out on not serving some authentic Dutch food. It can't be that hard to make real Dutch Patat, Kroketten, Frikandellen, Pannenkoeken etc. 😉