Places & destinations
JapanPlaces & destinations
Sado island
Land of imperial exile, Tokugawa gold mine, and home of the world’s best-known taiko ensemble.
On the mapNiigata
Sado received, among other exiles, Emperor Juntoku, the monk Nichiren and the playwright Zeami, leaving the island an unusual density of nō stages, some thirty still standing. The Sado Kinzan gold mine, worked from 1601 to 1989, split a mountain in two; its galleries can be visited. Since 1981 the Kodō ensemble has based its community here and taken taiko drumming to stages worldwide. The island also runs the last reintroduction programme for the Japanese crested ibis.
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