Visiting Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki Prefecture & Sasebo City Japan
Monday, September 27, 2010
WHEN EAST MEETS WEST
Commentary by Hank F. Miller Jr.
In Dutch, Huis Ten Bosch, means "house in the woods." In Japan, it is a theme park with canals running through a spacious landscape surrounded by 
water and forest, with amusements, museums, shops of all kinds, restaurants, hotels and much more.
photo: Hank and his wife Keiko at Huis Ten Bosch
It was born in 1992 as a reproduction of a Dutch city of the Middle Ages. But why Holland, many people wonder. Over four centries ago, Nagasaki enjoyed with Holland, where over a third of the national land area was a tract of land reclaimed from the sea.
Instead of competing with nature, people there learned to coexist in harmony with it. Just as the Dutch did in their homeland.
We enjoyed a most wonderful visit. Nagasaki was the first port where foreign ships were allowed to come and stay . Many Christian priests came here from Europe and the American ship known as the Black Ship with Admiral Lord Perry was one of the first to arrive.
Many members of the U.S.Navy & Marine Corps who came to Japan for deployment or on various cruises will remember this facility. It is situated at the westernmost tip of mainland Japan,near Kujukushima Islands which are designated as a national aquatic park within the greater Saikai National Park area. It is said to be the most densely concentrated clustering of islands in Japan.
The many scenic delights presented by the dynamic shapes and deeply embayed shorelines with strange shapes.The chain of islands which there are about 208 islands in all extends 25 km from outside the port of Sasebo and across the ocean to Hirado Island Strait.
Sasabo as I know it from many years ago has certainly changed from an 
agriculture and fishing to a vast city that it is today.Some of you that were stationed here wouldn't recognize it today at all.Please do enjoy a very nice autumn and warm regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan.
photo: Hank's daughter Rachel and wife Keiko taken on the Island cruise in Sasebo
Note: Hank is a former resident of Gloucester City NJ who resides in Japan. He has been writing a column for CNB since 2007.
tt.