Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Amsterdam on 17 June for a three-day state visit aimed at celebrating more than four centuries of relations between Japan and the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima hosted a formal welcoming ceremony at the Royal Palace on Dam Square, where the two royal couples stood for their respective national anthems and reviewed a ceremonial guard of honour. Children waving Dutch and Japanese flags gathered outside the palace as officials and guests were greeted, with Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten also in attendance.
Following the ceremony, the imperial couple made their way to the National Monument — the memorial at the heart of Dam Square dedicated to victims of war and conflict — to lay a wreath. The tribute carried particular weight given the painful history shared by the two nations: Japan occupied the former Dutch colony of the Dutch East Indies, present-day Indonesia, from 1942 to 1945. Tens of thousands of civilians were interned in camps, soldiers were taken prisoner and frequently used as forced labourers under conditions of hunger, disease, and violence, and thousands of women were subjected to sexual slavery. Around 19,000 Dutch civilians perished, and the trauma remains deeply felt among the Dutch-Indies community to this day.
In the lead-up to the visit, Emperor Naruhito chose his words carefully, stating his wish to reflect on those who "continue to carry pain from that era to this day" and expressing a desire to learn "humbly from history" and "preserve a spirit of peace." Historians note that while the emperor's remarks carry genuine weight, they stop short of a formal apology — a step that, under Japan's post-war constitution of 1947, would require cabinet approval. The emperor holds a symbolic rather than political role, a structure rooted in the conditions of Japan's post-war American occupation.
The broader diplomatic relationship stretches back to 1600, when the Dutch vessel De Liefde reached the coast of Japan. For centuries, Dutch traders were among the very few Westerners permitted to operate in Japan, making the Netherlands a unique window onto Europe for the Japanese. Western knowledge itself became known in Japan as rangaku — literally "Dutch studies." Warm ties between the two royal houses have been maintained across generations, with multiple reciprocal state visits over the decades. The current visit is expected to include meetings and events designed to deepen ongoing diplomatic, economic, and cultural cooperation between the two countries.