Sado, Niigata

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Sado City (佐渡市)
Location of Sado Island
Map of Sado Island
Country	Japan
Region	Chubu region
Prefecture	Niigata Prefecture
Area	854.97 km²
Population	67,384 2005 Census results
Density	78.1 per km²
City symbols
Tree	Thujopsis
Flower	Liquorice
Bird	Crested Ibis
Fish	Yellowtail
Sado City Hall
Address	〒952-1292
Niigata-ken, Sado-shi, Chigusa 232 banchi
Phone	0259-63-3111
External link	City Hall link
Coordinates	38°1′5″N, 138°22′5″E

This article addresses both the city of Sado and Sado Island

Sado (佐渡市, -shi) is a city located on Sado Island (佐渡島 or 佐渡ヶ島, both Sadogashima) in the Chubu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855 square kilometers is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following Okinawa Island and excluding the Northern territories.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Sado today
- 3.1 Economy
- 3.2 Tourism in Sado
4 External links

[edit] Geography

The island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly Southwest-Northeast, enclosing a central plain.

The O-Sado (大佐渡) range, in the North, is slightly higher, with peaks of Mt. Kinpoku　(金北山), the highest point of the island at 1173m, Mt. Myoken and Mt. Donden. Kosado (小佐渡) range in the South faces the Honshū coast. The highest point in Kosado is Oojiyama (大地山) at 646m. The plain in between is called Kuninaka (国中) and is the most populated area.

Sado from the sea

The Kuninaka plain opens on the Eastern side on the Ryotsu Bay (両津湾), and on the Western side on Mano Bay (真野湾), where the longest river, Kokufugawa (国府川, also read Konogawa) goes to the sea. The island has a global symmetrical shape.

Lake Kamo, on the Eastern side of Kuninaka, is filled with salt water, and is a growing place for oysters.

[edit] History

The island has an unhappy but interesting history.

[edit] Exile in Sado

When direct control from mainland Japan started around the 8th century, due to its remoteness, the island soon became a place of banishment for difficult or inconvenient Japanese figures. The first person condemned to exile to Sado was a poet, Hozumi no Asomioyu, in 722, reportedly for having criticized the Emperor. 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 former Emperor Juntoku was sent to Sado after his role in the Jōkyū War of 1221. The Emperor spent twenty years on the island. The Buddhist monk Nichiren Daishonin was sent to Sado for three years before his 1274 pardon, and the Noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo on unspecified charges in 1434. The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.

[edit] The gold mine

Sado experienced a sudden economic boom during the Edo era when gold was found in 1601 at Aikawa （相川）. A major source of revenue for the Tokugawa shogunate, the mines were worked in very severe conditions. 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 which was growing in Japanese cities at the time) to Sado from the 18th century, the Shogunate hoped to solve two problems with one move. The homeless were sent as water collectors and worked in extremely hard conditions, with a short life expectancy. The mine at its peak in Edo area produced around 400 kg 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.

Sado Gold Mine

[edit] Political formation of the island

As large number of pottery artefacts found near Ogi in the South of the island prove, Sado was populated as soon as the Jomon period.

The Nihonshoki mentions that Tungus visited the island in 544 (although it is unknown whether Tungus people effectively came). The island formed a distinct province, the Sado Province, separate from the Echigo province on Honshū, at the beginning of the 8th century. At first, the province was a single gun (district), but was divided into three guns : Sawata, Hamochi and Kamo. In 1185, the designated representative Shugo for Sado, Osaragi, appointed Honma Yoshihisa as his shugodai (delegate) for the province. The rule of the Honma clan on Sado lasted until Uesugi Kagekatsu took control of the island in 1589. After the defeat of Uesugi in Sekigahara and gold was discovered around the same time, the shogunate took direct control of the island.

The island was shortly an independent prefecture, called the Aikawa prefecture, between 1871 and 1876, during the Meiji era. It then became a part of Niigata Prefecture, which it is still as of today. At the end of the 19th century, there were three districts (郡), 7 towns (町) and 51 villages (村). During the 20th century a series of mergers steadily reduced the number of political local authorities, following a global trend in Japan. The current city (市) covering the whole island was established on March 1, 2004 in a merger of all remaining cities, towns, and villages on the island: Ryōtsu, Aikawa, Sawata, Kanai, Niibo, Hatano, Mano, Ogi, Hamochi, and Akadomari.

[edit] External influence on Sado culture

In feudal Japan, 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 between the Kansai 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 Sado local Japanese dialect and accent are different from Niigata.

[edit] Sado today

[edit] Economy

As of the year 2005 census, the island had 67,384 citizens. 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 after World War II as younger generations move to more urban areas. 32.1% 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 very limited options for studies after high-school, but to go on the mainland.

Agriculture and fishing are major sources of income for Sado. According to the 2000 national census, 22.3% of the working force was working in the primary sector and 25% in the secondary sector. Fishing is mainly based in Ryotsu and Aikawa.

Tourism boomed in the beginning of the 1990s with peaks over 1.2 million yearly visitors, but visitor number decreased over the 90s. In the mid 2000s, the number of visitors is closer to 650 000 / year. Sado remains however a popular holiday destination.

[edit] Tourism in Sado

Due to both its rich history and its relaxed rural atmosphere, Sado is one of the major tourist destinations in Niigata Prefecture. The island has several temples and ruins remnant of its past, 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 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 programme in a facility in Niibo area. The Ibis, Toki in Japanese, is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items.

There are many small local traditional festivals, and since 1988 there is a major yearly arts festival run by the taiko group Kodō. The group lives on the island year-round, reportedly in spartan conditions, preparing for the annual show. Attendance is restricted and the tickets are highly sought.

Sado tourism industry suffered direct (though limited) as well as indirect damage from the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake, as access routes inside the Niigata prefecture were cut.