Sado 1 day itinerary (Toki Forest Park & Obata Sake Brewery)

Ferries from the mainland including Niigata stop here. To go to Toki Forest Park, board the 9:17AM Minami Line bus from Platform 2 at the bus terminal. ＊The number of buses is small and the schedule will change in time depending on the seasons, weekends and holidays. Please check the latest information at the tourist information center inside Ryotsu Port or the information booth (Niigata Kotsu) at the bus terminal in front of the station. Get a bus schedule and plan your tour accordingly.

Observe Sado Island’s representative bird, the crested ibis. At this conservation facility which continues breeding and research for the toki that had been extinct in Japan, you can see the rare ibis very closely. Board the 10:49AM bus to head for Mano-Shinmachi.

It’s a 15-minute walk from Mano-Shinmachi to the venerable Obata Sake Brewery which has high praise from Japan and abroad. Inside the brewery, you can see displays of information on sake brewing as well as enjoy sake tasting and shopping. After the tour, have lunch in town. On the way back from the brewery to the bus stop, there is the “Restaurant & Bar Kosado” where you can dine on dishes made from local ingredients such as Sado-gyu steak. Take the 1:27PM bus from Mano-Shinmachi to head for Myosen-ji Temple and get off at the bus stop “Takedabashi”.

After getting off at “Takedabashi”, walk about 20 minutes to reach Myosen-ji. Walk through the area of historic sites within a serene countryside setting and enjoy a tour of the temple. At Myosen-ji, you can stroll through the impressive Niomon Gate, the main hall and the garden. The temple’s symbolic five-storied pagoda has a beauty that cannot be missed.

Walk over to the ancient Seson-ji which is close to Myosen-ji. Tour the temple grounds and the garden which retains its beauty all throughout the year.

Head to Daizen Shrine which has the island’s oldest surviving Noh stage within its grounds. After visiting the shrine that seems to have been built to welcome visitors, have a look at the thatch-roofed Noh stage which evokes a sense of history. It’s a 15-minute walk back to the “Takedabashi” bus stop. Paying attention to the bus schedule, take the 3:34PM bus from there to head back to Ryotsu Port.

Ferries from the mainland including Niigata stop here. To go to Toki Forest Park, board the 9:17AM Minami Line bus from Platform 2 at the bus terminal. ＊The number of buses is small and the schedule will change in time depending on the seasons, weekends and holidays. Please check the latest information at the tourist information center inside Ryotsu Port or the information booth (Niigata Kotsu) at the bus terminal in front of the station. Get a bus schedule and plan your tour accordingly.