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Sado, Niigata
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is a city located on Sado Island (??? or ????, both Sadogashima) in the Chubu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855.26 square kilometers is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following Okinawa Island and excluding the Northern territories.
island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly Southwest-Northeast, enclosing a central plain.
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is a city located on Sado Island (??? or ????, both Sadogashima) in the Chubu region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004 the city comprises the entire island, although not all of its 855.26 square kilometers is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following Okinawa Island and excluding the Northern territories.
Geography
The island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly Southwest-Northeast, enclosing a central plain. The Osado range, in the North, is slightly higher, with peaks of Mt. Kinpoku, the highest point of the island at 1172m, Mt. Myoken and Mt. Donden.
Kosado range in the South faces the Honshu coast. The highest point in Kosado is Ojiyama at 645m.
The plain in between is called Kuninaka and is the most populated area. The Kuninaka plain opens on the Eastern side on the Ryotsu Bay, and on the Western side on Mano Bay, where the longest river, Kokufugawa (???, 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.
Earthquakes
Tectonic movements which affect the rest of the Japan archeipelago are also an unwelcome feature of life on Sado Island.
- Kyowa 2 (December 9, 1802): Earthquake in northwest Honshu and Sado Island (Latitude: 37.700/Longitude: 138.300), 6.6 magnitude on the Richter Scale.
- Kyowa 2 (December 28, 1802): Earthquake on Sado Island (Latitude: 38.000/Longitude: 138.000).
History
Political formation of the island
As large number of pottery artifacts found near Ogi in the South of the island prove, Sado was populated as soon as the Jomon period.
The Nihonshoki 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 Honshu, at the beginning of the 8th century. At first, the province was a single gun (district), but was 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 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 , 7 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 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 Ryotsu: 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, due to its remoteness, the island 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, Hozumi no Asomioyu. 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 Jokyu 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 Sado-no-in. 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.
Gold mine
Sado experienced a sudden economic boom during the Edo era when gold was found in 1601 at Aikawa. 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.
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.
Sado today
Economy
As of the year 2008, the island had an estimated population of 66,067 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. In 2007, 34.4% 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.
Transportation options from/to mainland Japan are under tremendous economical pressure. Kyokushin Airways, operating the only airline to Niigata, will cease its operations in September 2008. 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 / year. Sado remains however a popular holiday destination.
Tourism on 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 plans to release Ibis in the wild at the end of 2008.
There are many small local traditional festivals, and since 1988 there is a major yearly arts festival run by the taiko group Kodo called the Earth Celebration. The group lives on the island year-round preparing for the annual show in August. Tickets are limited for the three-day weekend event. In recent years, Kodo make a sole performance on the Friday evening; the festival's invited act plays Saturday night; and Sunday concludes with a joint performance with Kodo and guests.
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.
Popular culture
Sado is a major locale in the trilogy of books "The Five Fortresses" by Aaron Chapman.
11th-century Sado is also the setting for the I.J. Parker fictional mystery novel, "Island of Exiles".
Sado is the setting for an extended episode in Amélie Nothomb's "Tokyo Fiancée."
External links
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