Japan

Sado Island

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Senkaku Bay ❘ SOURCENEXT/Alamy
Shukunegi village ❘ Hideo T/500px/Getty Images
Noh actor ❘ Sankei/Getty Images
Sadoshima tub boat ❘ Ippei Naoi/Getty Images
Sado Kinzan gold mine ❘ Tony McNicol/Alamy
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An island of exiles becomes a haven of groundbreaking art, from dance-drama theater to sake brewed with classical music.

The seaside villages of Sado Island offer quiet nature, lovingly preserved culture, and some of Japan’s freshest seafood.

Around 30 miles off the coast of Niigata prefecture sits an island that was designated for exiles in the medieval period. Full of a community of artists and intellectuals, coupled with its position along trading routes, it has today become a site of creative and cultural flourishing. Set along cliffs and in the shadow of Mount Kinpoku, the seaside villages of Sado Island offer quiet nature, lovingly preserved culture, and some of Japan’s freshest seafood.

Theater, ceramics, drumming, sake making, and many other arts are proudly cultivated here. One of those long-ago exiles was Zeami Motokiyo, a master of Noh, the classical Japanese form of dance-drama, who arrived on the island in 1434. Today, Sado Island is home to a third of the Noh theaters in Japan, which means that each week sees at least one performance. Also, during a mining boom in Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868), workers digging around the Aikawa Gold Mine found deposits of red clay that are still used today to make Mumyoi Yaki, a style of pottery with a burnished, unglazed red exterior. In Kaizuka, 84-year-old Watanabe Tozo uses traditional methods of processing the local clay, firing his pieces in a 130-year-old kiln. And during August’s three-day Earth celebration—one of the island’s many annual festivals—the local taiko drumming group, Kodo, performs in the streets. Sake brewers here take their craft just as seriously. Classical music can be heard on the wind surrounding the Hokusetsu Shuzo brewery in the town of Tokuwa, where the owners are convinced that storing their bottles in rooms where classical music plays improves the sake’s final flavor.

Taiko drumming performer ❘ Nicolas Datiche/LightRocket/Getty Images

Sado’s place in the sea is also central to its identity. In Shukunegi Village, once a thriving port, visitors can walk through dense rows of 200-year-old houses made with wood leftover from shipbuilding. Here and in the port town of Ogi, you’ll also find tarai bune, boats made from halved miso barrels, which fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away will recognize. These were once used by female divers in pursuit of seaweed and abalone, but now offer an unconventional way to experience the sea.

Many hotels and local operators also offer canoe and kayaking rentals to take in the staggering cliffs from the sea, or snorkeling and scuba diving to explore the crystal clear waters. The nature on land is just as impressive: Take a walk through the old-growth Ishina cedar forest, hike Mount Kinpoku, or plan a trip for May, when the island is covered with yellow daylilies.

KEEP WANDERING

Additional resources to learn more about Sado Island

Atlas Obscura’s Japan Trip

Delve deep into Sado Island’s artistic traditions.
Learn More

Toki Forest Park

Get to know the once-extinct Crested Ibis.
Learn More

Sushiya Maruishi

Locally-caught, conveyor-belt sushi.
Learn More

Hokusetsu Sake Brewery

Sake with a side of Chopin.
Learn More

Folk Museum

Ancient fishing tools and more, housed in an old Elementary school.
Learn More
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