Mother Nature and the inherent culture born from this island of exiles
The lush natural island of Sado, surrounded by the sea and with a wide plain of large rice paddies squeezed in by the mountains, has plenty of tourist attractions such as hiking, spending time on the beach and touring the historic sites. It used to be infamous as an island for exiles but since the majority of those people were aristocrats who lost political battles, political heretics or cultural scholars, aristocratic and samurai culture were added to the simple beauty of the landscape to create the unique culture for Sado.
Take a nature walk around the ocean-surrounded Sado
Untouched nature remains on Sado where you can have fun doing outdoor sports within the lush nature of a beautiful sea, mountains and forests. There is the forest trekking where you can appreciate the mystical and ancient cedar trees, hiking on Mt. Donden with its grand panorama as you view cows on the grasslands, marine sports such as kayaking and diving in the ocean, and sunbathing on the beach. There are also many campgrounds and the holidays spent in the middle of all this freedom are exceptional. Annually in September, there is plenty of excitement as an international triathlon is held.
An island where traditional performing arts continue to thrive
Due to a fertile ground born of the aristocrats and artists who had been exiled to Sado, a very distinct Sado culture was nurtured through the different cultures that had been brought over by the exiles. Sado Island is also famous as the land where the genius playwright Zeami was exiled, and during the time when gold mining was at its peak during the Edo Era, a visit of a close associate to the Tokugawa shogun and a Noh actor due to a development of a gold mine led to Noh culture taking root on Sado, and now one-third of the country’s Noh theaters are located there leading to an unparalleled Noh culture. In addition, Sado is an attractive island due to the continued rich presence of nature, culture and history with the beautiful historic sites, shrines and temples in the middle of Mother Nature, and the remains of the gold mines.