By SHINYA HARAGUCHI/ Staff Writer
November 3, 2020 at 15:50 JST
SASEBO, Nagasaki Prefecture--The whirlwind year of 2020 still has time to spin more havoc, but the sea of lights at a make-believe Dutch town here is a welcoming signal that the cozy holiday season is not far off.
The Huis Ten Bosch theme park kicked off its annual winter illumination event, “Kingdom of Light,” on Nov. 1.
Boasting about 13 million lights, the popular tourist destination features authentic replicas of old Dutch buildings and the flat landscape for which the Netherlands is famed.
The park’s Amsterdam Square is now a silvery white winter wonderland with a splendid chapel and 15-meter-tall Christmas tree, creating a perfect European ambience.
Blue lights have transformed the park’s largest garden into an epic ocean.
On the opening night, visitors were seen busy taking selfies and snapping away at the luminary spectacle.
The event continues until May 5, 2021, the end of the Golden Week holiday.
The park asks each visitor to wear a face mask, have their temperature checked and fill out a medical questionnaire as measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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The “Kingdom of Light” annual illumination event at Huis Ten Bosch in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, kicks off on Nov. 1. (Jun Kaneko)
