Column
Life in the Netherlands, and what we learn building sites that have to work in both the Japanese and European markets.
A Dutch consumer association compared 131 products across 13 chains on the same day and found a 33-point gap between the cheapest and the most expensive. Here is what that means in euros a year, how food prices are moving in 2026, how to use apps and offers, the rules that surprise newcomers (cards, bags, bottle deposits), and where to find food from home.
Moving in to find there is no floor. Being made to buy the last tenant's sofa. Some Dutch rental customs look strange but are perfectly legal. Tenant protection, on the other hand, is strong: points-based maximum rents, a two-month cap on deposits, a ban on letting fees, and permanent contracts as the norm. Here is how it all fits together in 2026, including where to get help in The Hague.
The Netherlands pays monthly allowances towards rent, health insurance, childcare and children — but only if you apply, and you repay anything you were overpaid. Here are the 2026 income and asset limits, the big change to the rent allowance, why repayment demands are so common, and the deadline for claiming 2025 (31 December 2026), checked against official sources.
ETIAS, the EU's travel authorisation, has not started yet — but more than 150 websites claim to sell it, some charging €50 to €178. Meanwhile EES, which records visitors' faces and fingerprints at the border, is fully running and causing waits of one to two hours at Schiphol. Here is what applies to residents, what applies to visiting family and friends, and how to spot a fake.
Bikes, bread and bluntness: a Dane living in The Hague compared the two countries for DutchReview. We look at what gezellig actually means, how it differs from hygge, what cycling and happiness data say about the two, and what Statistics Netherlands found about loneliness: residents born abroad are about twice as likely to feel socially lonely. Plus practical ways to find your way into the circle in The Hague.
The same company page performs very differently in Tokyo and in The Hague. 63.5% of Japanese B2B buyers have already shortlisted vendors before they contact one, and 67% of buyers in Gartner's latest survey would rather not deal with a sales rep at all. Using 2026 buying data, the rise of AI-assisted research, and the legal rules on both sides, here is what actually has to change — and it is not the translation.
