Sado Island Gold Mines

One of the things I like most about visiting WHS is that it opens up lesser-known regions even when the WHS itself isn’t too great. This is certainly the case for Sado Island, a lovely example of a slowish, rural Japan. Sado's size is fairly large, it even is the second largest island (after Okinawa) outside of the four main islands of Japan. Its other major tourist attraction in addition to the WH-listed Gold Mines is the Toki (Crested Ibis), which has been reintroduced here after it had become extinct in Japan.

I started my visit at the two mines of Sado Kinzan: Sohdayu (400 years old) and Dohyu (100 years old). The combined entrance fee is 1500 yen (9 EUR). You’re not forced on a guided tour here as is so common at other WH mines, dragging yourself behind a guide elaborating in Polish or Spanish. You just walk through the tunnels and see the exhibits at your own pace. The information is displayed in both Japanese and English. The OUV of the Sado mines lies in its Edo-period way of mining, but – as with Rosia Montana which is recognized for its Roman way of mining - it is hard to ‘unsee’ the alterations and additions later mining generations made at the same spot. I also did not notice anything particularly Japanese about the methods used, although, at the end of the tour of the Sohdayu mine, a display shows that Shinto rituals were performed to celebrate …

I hadn’t planned in the Sado Mines for my trip to Japan. But then the site was inscribed during while I was in Osaka region and I could not resist to reorganize my Tokyo part to squeeze it in.
I added Sado as part of my Tokyo loop by rental car, driving straight from Tokyo to Niigata.
The next morning I took the hydrofoil to Sado. It makes no sense to bring the car to the island as the ferry is slower (2.5h compared to the 1h by hydrofoil) and it’s more expensive to bring your car instead of renting one on the island for a few hours.
Car rental was very easy and uncomplicated. There are more companies in and around the port than I ever saw at any airport in Japan. I rented a small car for 9 hours for around 40 USD. The alternative would be using a bus, but I only saw 1 single bus the whole day I drove around the island, so plan this well, if you go public transport.
It takes longer than you might think to get around, as the max speed on the island is 50km/h and this is how fast other cars usually drive. I visited all 3 components, plus a scenic spot with cliffs (Senkakuwan Bay).
 
Aikawa area
This is the main location and it seems to be the island’s main attraction. There were tons of tourists, a museum and a big souvenir shop. You can get into …

Sado Island is a short ferry ride away from Niigata, which has good connections from Tokyo naturally, but also others such as Sapporo, Fukuoka. The main destination for Niigata is usually to see tehe golden leaf season which is in late autumn. Another reason would be the mines on Sado island, but Sado itself has several places to visit such as the Toki Forest Park.

The mines are unfortunately quite far away from the towns. There is a bus to the west coast and you would have to change again to reach the mines but that second bus time schedule is quite infrequent. So it is doable by public transport but I highly suggest you get that International Driving Permit for renting a car from the ferry port. If you are more than one person it is already worth it and the distances are not far. The locals drive very slowly here so you need to get used to that. The tourist information center at the ferry port also has an excellent map for all the attractions which can easily be stretched to a two day visit. 

Once you get to the west coast the scenery becomes really green and beautiful. It would be worth driving along the coast north and back towards the ferry port from there if you have the time on hand. The hills really look like you just landed on a different island in comparison to the flat areas of east Sado. The Sado gold mines …