5 reasons to visit Japan's Sado Island

A ragged ‘S’ off the north coast of central Japan, Sado — the country’s sixth-largest island — is a lesser-known destination for most travellers, yet it embodies many of the finest elements of Japan’s culture and history. As a former place of exile, disgraced aristocrats and scholars were sent to Sado to live out their days. With thriving gold mines and lying on a busy shipping route, Sado once contained a broad mix of Japanese society in miniature — home to samurai warriors and working-class merchants. Its geography is also a microcosm of Japan, with emerald-green lagoons, cedar forests and the grand Osado mountain range. Sado is an overlooked gem, with its temples, tub-boats and toki (crested ibis birds) providing a nature-filled getaway. Combined with a city break in Niigata on the mainland, a visit here allows travellers to experience the best of Japan.

1. Discover the island’s unique history

In Shukunegi, Sado’s medieval port in a pretty cove, great sengoku bune ships were built and in turn used to build the town — over 100 wooden houses made of old ship planks form fascinating close-knit warrens through Shukunegi. The town is also one spot on Sado where visitors can enjoy a ride in a tarai-bune, a traditional tub fishing vessel, which is made from a miso barrel cut in half. Originally called hangiri, meaning ‘half-cut’, the distinctive tarai-bune are still used by locals for fishing around Ogi Peninsula.

Gold was discovered on Sado in the 17th century, bringing culture and commerce, and causing quiet island life to change dramatically. By the mid-17th century, Sado’s gold mines were Japan’s most productive, funding much of the ostentatious Tokugawa Shogunate (the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868). Based on the west coast, Sado Gold Mine is now an atmospheric tunnel museum open to the public. Visitors can also go panning for gold at Nishimikawa Gold Park.

Sado is also known for its creative scene, including music, Noh — a form of traditional Japanese theatre — and onidaiko festivals. Meaning ‘masked deity dance’, onidaiko (which translates as ‘demon drumming’) is a performance art featuring masked dancers and Japanese taiko drumming, which is traditionally done to ward off negative energy and pray for a rich rice harvest. Onidaiko has given birth to the renowned Kodo drumming ensemble, which hosts the island’s Earth Celebration music festival every year. Visitors can also see taiko drumming year-round at the Sado Island Taiko Centre, where two enormous drums hand-carved from a 600-year-old zelkova log are housed.

2. Explore incredible coastal landscapes

With 174 miles of coastline, Sado has astonishing ocean scenery. Senkakuwan on the west coast, a striking two-mile stretch of five small bays, with steep 98-foot-high cliffs, is best seen from panoramic viewing decks above or from marine park boats below.

Further south, Nagate-misaki is a picturesque peninsula of sea-carved volcanic rocks. As Sado’s sunset spot, its islet-dotted waters are painted tangerine in the evening before giving way to sensational stargazing. Also in the south, the volcanic Ogi Coast is home to the gorgeous islands of Yajima and Kyojima, which are connected to one another by a striking red arched bridge.

Inland, Lake Kamo — the largest lake in Niigata prefecture — reflects the seasons, with cherry blossom in spring and a wintry backdrop of snow-capped mountains. The lake has cycle paths, a promenade and oyster farms, too.

3. Encounter rare wildlife across the island’s ecosystems

Sado’s varied nature and geography have given rise to precious ecosystems full of brilliant fauna and flora. As a migratory stopover in a temperate region, Sado is a temporary home to a large number of bird species, including falcons, herons, hoopoes and white-tailed eagles.

Sado’s celebrity, the rare toki, is a crested ibis that loves to stalk about the rice paddies, its face a splash of scarlet amid the fluttering green. These birds are often found together with pure-white herons, the latter sometimes fooling bird-spotters into thinking they’re toki — but you can usually catch the real deal in the Kuninaka area’s rice fields or at Toki Rapport Plaza, a sustained natural habitat. Local farmers are looking to encourage birdlife by reducing chemical use and filling paddies with water year-round.

The rest of Sado is largely covered by protected national parkland, which includes pristine primeval woodland — such as the ethereal Osado Ishina Natural Cedar Forest — and extensive mountain ranges that are home to phenomenal plant life.

4. Sample Sado’s specialities

With so much coast and a blend of warm and cool currents, Sado is awash with excellent seafood. Its glassy green-blue waters are home to the likes of buri (yellowtail), zuwai kani (snow crab) and ika (squid). Specialities include exquisitely fresh sashimi, and buri-katsudon — fried yellowtail cutlet on rice.

Sado also produces a variety of fruits including apples, mandarin oranges, kiwis and even grapes. Perhaps most popular is kaki (persimmon), a sweet, delicate fruit in season from November to January. The island also has its own rice brand, Toki to Kurasu Sato, which means ‘living in harmony with toki’, and produces sake, too. Sake has been long connected with Sado and its plentiful festivals. Today, the island has five breweries making traditional and unique sakes, including doburoku (unrefined) and cloudy sake.

5. Tie in your trip with a visit to Niigata City

Across the Sado Strait sits Niigata City, an ancient port known as the ‘City of Water’ due to its lakes, shoreline and Japan’s longest river, the Shinano-gawa, which cuts it in two. Niigata City is replete with fresh sushi and sake, and even hosts an annual sake festival, Niigata Sake no Jin.

Alongside a host of shrines, museums and shopping opportunities, Niigata is full of distinctive experiences, with a more relaxed atmosphere than other Japanese cities. The sake tasting possibilities in Niigata are seemingly endless, or visit a sake brewery such as Imayo Tsukasa for a tour. Visitors can watch geisha (geigi in the local dialect) dance in the ‘Furumachi Geigi’ district in downtown Niigata, witnessing a tradition that is over 200 years old. Or discover the area’s 150-year-old mochi-making method and join a mochi-pounding workshop. The charming city is best explored with the Sado-Niigata Pass, which includes buses and the Sado ferry.

Imayo Tsukasa