is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

located on in

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, although not all of its total area is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and

Okinawa Island , officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is ...

(excluding the Northern Territories). As of June 1, 2023, the city has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 48,195 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . The total area is .

History

Political formation of the island

The large number of pottery artifacts found near Ogi in the South of the island demonstrate that Sado was populated as early as the

Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...

. The ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'' mentions that Mishihase people visited the island in 544 (although it is unknown whether Tungusic people effectively came). The island formed a distinct

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, the Sado Province, separate from the

Echigo province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

on Honshū, at the beginning of the 8th century. At first, the province was a single ''gun'' (district), but was later divided into three ''gun'': Sawata, Hamochi and Kamo. In 1185, the designated representative

Shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

for Sado, Osaragi, appointed Honma Yoshihisa as his

shugodai were officials during feudal Japan. Shugodai were representatives of provincial shugo when the shugo could not virtually exercise his power, being often away from his province. Unlike shugo, who were appointed from the central power of the sa ...

(delegate) for the province. The rule of the Honma clan on Sado lasted until

Uesugi Kagekatsu was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagetora’s brother in law. Early life and rise Kagekatsu was the son of Nagao Masakage, the head of the Ueda Naga ...

took control of the island in 1589. After the defeat of the Uesugi at Sekigahara, and the discovery of gold on the island, the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

took direct control of the island. The island was for a short time an independent

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

, called the Aikawa prefecture, between 1871 and 1876, during the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

. It then became a part of

, which it is still as of today. At the end of the 19th century, there were three

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(), seven towns (), and 51 villages (). During the 20th century, a series of mergers steadily reduced the number of political local authorities, following the recent trend in Japan to cut the costs of having separately run local administrations. The current city () covering the whole island was established on March 1, 2004 from a merger of all remaining municipalities on the island: the city of Ryōtsu: the towns of Aikawa, Kanai, Sawata, Hatano, Mano, Hamochi and Ogi; and the villages of Niibo, and Akadomari (all from Sado District). Amalgamation_Sado_jp.svg, 10 subdivisions (former municipalities) in the Sado City

Exile in Sado

When direct control from mainland Japan started around the 8th century, the island's remoteness meant that it soon became a place of banishment for difficult or inconvenient Japanese figures. Exile to remote locations such as Sado was a very serious punishment, second only to the death penalty, and people were not expected to return. The earliest known dissident to be condemned to exile on Sadogashima was a poet, . He was sent to the island in 722, reportedly for having criticized the emperor. The former

Emperor Juntoku (22 October 1197 – 7 October 1242) was the 84th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1210 through 1221, a part of Japan's Kamakura Period. Genealogy Before his ascension to the C ...

was sent to Sado after his role in the Jōkyū War of 1221. The disgraced emperor survived twenty years on the island before his death; and because he was sent to Sado, this emperor is known posthumously as . He is buried in the Mano Goryo mausoleum on the west coast. The Buddhist monk

Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra ...

lived on Sado close to the present village Niibo in Kuninaka Plain from 1271 to 1274. In the 17th century, Konpon Ji Temple was built at the place where he lived. At the end of his exile, Nichiren lived at the place where Myosho Ji temple was built later. He used to meditate at the place where Jisso Ji Temple can be visited today. In addition, Nipponzan Myohoji, a modern Nichiren Buddhist order, established a Peace Pagoda in the city to help in inspiring people toward

world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

. The Noh dramatist

Zeami Motokiyo , also called , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright. His father, Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. Kan'ami was also skilled in acting and formed a ...

was exiled on unspecified charges in 1434. The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.

Gold mine

Sado experienced a sudden economic boom during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

when gold was found in 1601 at . A major source of revenue for the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the mines were worked in very severe conditions. A manpower shortage led to a second wave of "exiles" coming to Sado, although this time it was not imposed as a sentence for a committed crime. By sending homeless people (the number of whom was growing in Japanese cities at the time) to Sado from the 18th century, the Shogunate hoped to kill two birds with one stone. The homeless were sent as water collectors and worked in extremely hard conditions, with a short life expectancy. The Sado mine at its peak in the Edo era produced around of gold a year (as well as some silver). The small settlement of Aikawa quickly reached a population of around 100,000. The mine closed in 1989.

External influence on Sado culture

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...

, when the Nishimawari naval route was opened in 1672, Ogi (in the South of the Island) became a main stop on this major naval route in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

between the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

area and northern areas of the archipelago. Exiles and shipping in old times both had a major influence on Sado's cultural background. The island is for instance dotted with Noh theaters, and the local Japanese dialect and accent are different from those of Niigata.

Emergency landing on Sado

A few months after World War II, on 18 January 1946, a Douglas Dakota (C-47) ''Sister Ann'' in British RAF service made an emergency landing on the island. The locals helped in the recovery and building a runway for it to depart, the story of which was made into a film named ''Tobe! Dakota'' (''Fly, Dakota, Fly!'') with the film's Dakota made into an island exhibit. The story of the events leading up to the crash were also made into a film, '' The Night My Number Came Up''.

Geography

The island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly southwest–northeast, enclosing a central plain. The range, in the north, is slightly higher, with peaks of , the highest point of the island at , Mount Kongō, Mount Myōken, and Mount Donden. range in the south faces the

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

coast. The highest point in Kosado is at 645 m. The plain in between is called and is the most populated area. The Kuninaka plain opens on its eastern side onto , and on its western side onto , where the longest river, reaches the sea. The island has a symmetrical shape. , on the eastern side of Kuninaka, is filled with salt water, and is a growing place for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s. SadoGaShima.jpg, Sado island Sadogashima_-_2009-08-06_-_03-v1.jpg, View of the coast of Sado

Climate

Sado has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with potentially hot, humid summers and cold winters. Precipitation is quite heavy throughout the year.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Sado peaked around 1950 and has declined by roughly 60 percent in the decades since.

Today

Economy

As of May 1, 2017, the island has an estimated population of 55,474. The island of Sado has seen a steady decline in population since 1950 when the population was 125,597. Similar trends have been common in other remote locations of Japan since World War II as younger generations have moved to more urban areas. As of October 1, 2008, 36.3% of the island population is over 65 years old, which is a larger ratio than the national average. Over 65 is the only increasing age demographic. The island is now less populated than it was in the 18th and 19th century. There is no university, and the options for post high school studies, short of leaving and going to the mainland, are limited to a few specialty schools. Agriculture and fishing are major sources of income for Sado. According to the 2000 national census, 22.3% of the workforce was employed in the

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in d ...

and 25% in the secondary sector. Fishing is mainly based in Ryotsu and Aikawa. Tourism boomed in the beginning of the 1990s and peaked at over 1.2 million yearly visitors, but visitor numbers decreased over the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, the number of visitors was closer to 650,000 per year. Sado is known for a number of Japanese bamboo weaving artists and artisans who are renowned throughout the country.

Tourism

Its rich history and relaxed rural atmosphere make Sado one of the major tourist destinations in

. The island has several temples and historical ruins, and offers possibilities for various outdoor activities, as well as fresh local food. Sado is famous as the major breeding area for the Japanese

crested ibis The crested ibis (''Nipponia nippon''), also known as the Japanese crested ibis, or Asian crested ibis, is a species of ibis, native to eastern Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Nipponia''. In Japan, where it has special cultural signi ...

. The last known Japan-born Japanese crested ibis died in captivity in 2003 on the island. Currently, birds from China are being bred in a captive program in a facility in Niibo area, and have been released since 2008. The first hatchings in the wild were observed in April 2012. The ibis is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items. As of June 2022, approximately 480 crested ibis have been observed making a radical comeback for their species, thanks to conservation efforts. There are many small local traditional festivals, and since 1988 a major yearly arts festival, called the Earth Celebration, has been run by the

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

group Kodo. The group lives on the island, touring eight months a year, and in August they invite international artists to collaborate with them at their festival on Sado. Tickets are limited for the three-day weekend event. In recent years, Kodo has made a solo performance on the Friday evening; the festival's invited act plays Saturday night; and Sunday concludes with a joint performance with Kodo and guests. The Sado tourism industry suffered direct (though limited) as well as indirect damage from the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake, as access routes inside Niigata Prefecture were cut.

Sights

Sado has a large variety of sights to offer. * Myōsen-ji is a temple with a five-storied pagoda a few kilometers east of Mano. The pagoda was built by two generations of carpenters and took 30 years to complete in 1825. * Konpon-ji Temple in the village of Niibo in the middle of the island was built in the 17th century at the very place where

lived at first during his exile on Sadogashima. * Rengebuji Temple near Ogi, housing several buildings classified as important cultural properties. * For two years, Nichiren lived at the place where Myōshō-ji Temple can be visited today. The temple which has a beautiful garden is northeast of the town of Sawata. Jisso-ji Temple which is visited by many pilgrims is close by. It was built at a place where Nichiren used to meditate. The pine tree where he used to hang his clothes can still be seen today. A tall Nichiren Memorial was erected close to the temple. * The Art and Natural History Museum of Sado is on the west coast between Sawata and Mano. Some reconstructed pile houses can be seen in its garden. Originally, the inhabitants of Sado lived in pile houses. * A traditional wooden Noh Theatre which was built in the 19th century can be visited near Daizen Shrine in the east of Mano. * Shukunegi is a historically preserved ward which has existed since the Edo Era as a Sado port town. The streets brimming over with atmosphere and built by shipwrights are splendid. Nipponia_nippon_20091230131054.png, A

nearby the Crested Ibis Conservation Center on Sado Island File:Myosenji 5junoTou 20100710.JPG, Myōsen-ji Temple File:Konponji-Tempel.jpg, Konpon-ji Temple Noh Performance (235951661).jpeg, Noh theatre File:Sado bugyousyo.JPG, Reconstruction of the

Sado bugyō were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate responsible for administration of the mining operations at Sado. Sado Island is the sixth largest in the Japanese archipelago. It is located in the Sea of Japan off the west coast of Echigo Province in ...

sho Senkakuwan_20170416-2.jpg, Senkakuwan File:Himezaki_Lighthouse.jpg, Himezaki lighthouse

Transportation

Ship

Sado Steam Ship operates two routes connecting to the mainland. * Joetsu – Ogi (Jetfoil, only from spring to autumn) * Niigata – Ryotsu (

Ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

and jetfoil)

Bus

Transit bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...

network all over the island is operated by Niigata Kotsu Kanko Bus.

Air

Kyokushin Airways, operating the route to Niigata, ceased its operations in September 2008. New Japan Aviation operated three or four flights daily to Sado Airport, but service to the airport was suspended indefinitely in April 2014.

Notable people

Aka Akasaka is a Japanese manga artist and writer best known for his series ''Kaguya-sama: Love Is War'' and ''Oshi no Ko''. Biography Akasaka contributed to the background assets of the visual novel video game ''Wonderful Everyday'', released in Japan in ...

(b. 1988), manga artist and writer. *

Hachirō Arita was a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He coined the term Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which provided an official agenda for Imperial Japan's expansionism. After the wa ...

(, 1884–1965), a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He is believed to have originated the concept of the

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere The , also known as the GEACPS, was a Pan-Asianism, pan-Asian union that the Empire of Japan tried to establish. Initially, it covered Japan (including Korea under Japanese rule, annexed Korea), Manchukuo, and Wang Jingwei regime, China, but as ...

. * Makoto Asashima (, born 1944), biologist * Hideyo Hanazumi (b. 1958), politician and Governor of Niigata Prefecture. * Charles Robert Jenkins (1940–2017), former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

sergeant who deserted to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

in 1965 where he was detained until 2004. He lived on Sado with his Japanese wife Hitomi Soga, an abductee he met in

. * Ikki Kita (北一輝 Kita Ikki, 1883 – 1937); real name: Kita Terujirō (北輝次郎)), Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher active in early-Shōwa period. * Hitomi Nabatame (b. 1976), actress and singer.

References

Bibliography

* Bornoff, Nicholas (2005). ''National Geographic Traveler Japan'' (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.:

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. . .

External links

*
Official website

Sado Tourism Association Website
{{Authority control Cities in Niigata Prefecture Port settlements in Japan Populated coastal places in Japan World Heritage Tentative List States and territories established in 2004