Sado Island 佐渡ヶ島

Sado Island (佐渡ヶ島)

March is definitely the wrong time to go to Sado, but that was when we went; however, being way off season, there were almost no tourists at all.  At several points we had temples, museums, or other places to ourselves.

Arriving on a very, very early morning ferry (to get the most of our sightseeing day), we reached the island still early in the morning.  From the ferry, it looks almost isolated - the relatively large island only has a little over 50 000 people.

View of the island from the ferry.

Ogi Town 小木町 and Shukunegi Town 宿根木町

On the island, one of the areas is Ogi Town, which is on the south part of the island.  There, you can get into wooden barrel boats, which are rowed by women or men in traditional costumes.  Although the weather wasn't great, we hopped in the boat and went for a (short) ride.

Traditional wooden barrel boats of Sado

Just down the road is an old, but still lived-in, old village called Shukunegi.  It is filled with old wooden houses, some are over 100 years old.  We received a very detailed explanation, but unfortunately the speaker was a local and his accent was extremely hard to understand.  One of the joys and challenges of rural Japan.

A triangle shaped building in Shukunegimachi.

Western Sado

On the west side of the island, there is a beautiful coastline, although slightly less interesting because of the wind and cold on the day we visited.  Plus, the place that was listed as the most scenic spot charged ¥500 just to get to it.  We passed on that and simply took pictures nearby.

near Senkakuwan Bay

The gold mine on the west side of the island is particularly interesting.  It was in operation from the Edo period until into the 20th century, but is now a tourist site.  Apparently it was one of the top three gold-producing mines at one time in its history.  It left behind some caves, which have been turned into a sort of museum, a mountaintop that has broken in two because of the mining below, and a bunch of industrial buildings that are slowly crumbling.

inside the gold mine

a broken mountain and the mine that made it collapse

coastline near the gold mine

old gold-processing facilities

old gold-mining processing facility

Central Island

Down the middle of the island is a sort of central valley between the two mountain ranges; this includes a large percentage of the population, as well as farmland and a few temples.  Since Sado had a gold mine and was a place where political exiles were sent, it has a rich history.  Also, since it's an island, the seafood is fantastic.  There is also a local museum, but the displays have these creepy life-sized robots that act out pieces of Sado's history - possibly made creepier by the fact that we were the only ones there.

Again, since it was off-season, we had the temples and shrines to ourselves.

Definitely a great place to visit, although it is a little expensive to get to (expensive ferry and a rental car is extremely helpful).