Sado, Niigata
Encyclopedia
is a city located on Sado Island (佐渡島 or 佐渡ヶ島, both Sadogashima) in Niigata Prefecture
, in the Chūbu region
of Japan
. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, although not all of its total area of 855.26 km2 is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and Okinawa Island
(excluding the Northern territories
).
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 1,172 m, Mount Myōken, and Mount Donden. range in the South faces the Honshu
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 global symmetrical shape. , on the eastern side of Kuninaka, is filled with salt water, and is a growing place for oyster
s.
The Nihon Shoki
mentions that Mishihase
people visited the island in 544 (although it is unknown whether Tungusic 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 later divided into three gun: 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 the Uesugi
at Sekigahara
, and the discovery of gold on the island, the shogunate
took direct control of the island.
The island was for a short time 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 , 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 in 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.
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
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
Daishonin was sent to Sado for three years before his 1274 pardon.
The Noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo
was exiled on unspecified charges in 1434.
The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.
Sado experienced a sudden economic boom during the Edo era when gold was found in 1601 at . 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 whom 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 the Edo era 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.
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 the local Japanese dialect and accent are different from those of Niigata.
Transportation links from and to mainland Japan are under tremendous economic pressure. Kyokushin Airways, operating the airline to Niigata, ceased its operations in September 2008. Currently, New Japan Aviation operates 3-4 flights per day to Sado Airport. The closing of secondary maritime liaisons is also under discussion.
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 per year.
. 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 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. The Ibis, Toki in Japanese, is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items. There are plans to release Ibis in the wild at the end of 2008.
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
group Kodō
. The group lives on the island, touring 8 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, Kodō 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 Kodō 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.
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
, in the Chūbu region
Chubu region
The is the central region of Honshū, Japan's main island. Chūbu has a population estimate of 21,886,324 as of 2008.Chūbu, which means "central region", encompasses nine prefectures : Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, Yamanashi, and often Mie.It is located directly...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, although not all of its total area of 855.26 km2 is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
(excluding the Northern territories
Kuril Islands dispute
The Kuril Islands dispute , also known as the , is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of World War II, are under Russian...
).
Geography
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
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 global symmetrical shape. , on the eastern side of Kuninaka, is filled with salt water, and is a growing place for oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s.
Earthquakes
- Kyōwa 2 (December 9, 1802): Earthquake in northwest HonshuHonshuis the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
and Sado Island (Latitude: 37.700/Longitude: 138.300), 6.6 magnitude on the Richter Scale....Click link for NOAA/Japan: Significant Earthquake Database - Kyōwa 2 (December 28, 1802): Earthquake on Sado Island (Latitude: 38.000/Longitude: 138.000).
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 Jomon period.The Nihon Shoki
Nihon Shoki
The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
mentions that Mishihase
Mishihase
The , also read as Ashihase and Shukushin, were a people of ancient Japan, believed to have lived along the northern portion of the coast of the Sea of Japan...
people visited the island in 544 (although it is unknown whether Tungusic people effectively came).
The island formed a distinct province
Provinces of Japan
Before the modern prefecture system was established, the land of Japan was divided into tens of kuni , usually known in English as provinces. Each province was divided into gun ....
, the Sado Province
Sado Province
was a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niigata Prefecture. It was sometimes called or . It lies on the eponymous Sado Island, off the coast of Niigata Prefecture ....
, separate from the Echigo province
Echigo Province
was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Etchū Provinces. Today the area is part of Niigata Prefecture, which also includes the island which was the old Sado Province. This province was the northernmost part of the...
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
Shugo
was a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan...
for Sado, Osaragi, appointed Honma Yoshihisa as his shugodai
Shugodai
were officials during feudal Japan.Shugodai were representatives of provincial shugo when the shugo could not exercise his power, being often away from his province. Unlike shugo, who were appointed from the central power, shugodai were locally appointed....
(delegate) for the province.
The rule of the Honma clan
Honma clan
The Honma clan is a Japanese clan that ruled the province of Sado between the 12th and 16th century.Yoshihisa Honma was appointed shugodai of Sado in 1185. The clan established its rule from Sawata....
on Sado lasted until Uesugi Kagekatsu
Uesugi Kagekatsu
was a daimyo during the Sengoku and Edo periods of Japanese history. The son of Nagao Masakage and husband of Uesugi Kenshin's elder sister, Aya-Gozen. After his father died, he was adopted by Kenshin....
took control of the island in 1589. After the defeat of the Uesugi
Uesugi clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....
at Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara
The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...
, and the discovery of gold on the island, the shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
took direct control of the island.
The island was for a short time an independent prefecture, called the Aikawa prefecture, between 1871 and 1876, during the Meiji era. It then became a part of Niigata Prefecture
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
, which it is still as of today.
At the end of the 19th century, there were three districts , 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 in a merger of all remaining municipalities on the island: the city of Ryōtsu
Ryotsu, Niigata
Ryōtsu was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.In the year 2003, the city had an estimated population of 16,710 and a density of 71.60 persons per km². The total area was 233.37 km².The city was founded on November 3, 1954...
: the towns of Aikawa, Kanai, Sawata, Hatano, Mano, Hamochi and Ogi; and the villages of Niibo, and Akadomari.
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
Emperor Juntoku
was the 84th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1210 through 1221.-Genealogy:...
was sent to Sado after his role in the Jōkyū War
Jokyu War
', also known as the Jōkyū Disturbance or the Jōkyū Rebellion, was fought in Japan between the forces of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, regents of the Kamakura shogunate, whom the retired emperor was trying to overthrow....
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
Nichiren
Nichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching...
Daishonin was sent to Sado for three years before his 1274 pardon.
The Noh dramatist Zeami Motokiyo
Zeami Motokiyo
Zeami Motokiyo , also called Kanze Motokiyo , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor and playwright.-Acting:...
was exiled on unspecified charges in 1434.
The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.
Gold mine
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, 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 whom 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 the Edo era 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.
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 JapanSea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
between the Kansai
Kansai
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
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.
Economy
As of April 1, 2011, the island has an estimated population of 63,231 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 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 very limited.Transportation links from and to mainland Japan are under tremendous economic pressure. Kyokushin Airways, operating the airline to Niigata, ceased its operations in September 2008. Currently, New Japan Aviation operates 3-4 flights per day to Sado Airport. The closing of secondary maritime liaisons is also under discussion.
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
Secondary sector of industry
The secondary sector of the economy or industrial sector includes those economic sectors that create a finished, tangible product: production and construction.-Function:...
. 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 per year.
Tourism
Its rich history and relaxed rural atmosphere make Sado one of the major tourist destinations in Niigata PrefectureNiigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
. 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
Crested Ibis
The Crested Ibis , also known as the Japanese Crested Ibis or Toki , is a large , white-plumaged ibis of pine forests. Its head is partially bare, showing red skin, and it has a dense crest of white plumes on the nape. This species is the only member of the genus Nipponia.Their habitat is usually...
. 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. The Ibis, Toki in Japanese, is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items. There are plans to release Ibis in the wild at the end of 2008.
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
Taiko
means "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
group Kodō
Kodo (taiko group)
is a professional taiko drumming troupe. Based on Sado Island, Japan, they have had a role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad...
. The group lives on the island, touring 8 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, Kodō 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 Kodō and guests.
The Sado tourism industry suffered direct (though limited) as well as indirect damage from the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake
2004 Chuetsu earthquake
The occurred at 5:56 p.m. on Saturday, October 23, 2004 . The Japan Meteorological Agency has named it the Heisei 16 Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake or The Mid Niigata Prefecture Earthquake of 2004...
, as access routes inside Niigata prefecture
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
were cut.