In Week 3 of my stay in Japan, I traveled to Niigata Prefecture where I visited Niigata City, and then hopped over to Sado Island. Every year, I try to visit one place I’ve never been to, and for this year, I chose Sado.
Sado City occupies the entire Sado Island, and is a city of Niigata Prefecture. The estimated population is 55,474, in 855.26 sq km, with a population density of 64.8 persons per sq km as of 2017. For reference, Flagstaff’s estimated population is 73,964, in 171 sq km, with a population density of 432.54 persons per sq km as of 2018.
There is evidence that the island has been populated since about 1000 BC. Recent inhabitants included those exiled from the mainland at about 800 AD, and also those who moved here to mine gold in the 1600s.
The geography includes two small mountain ranges with the highest peak at 1,172 meters. It is a humid subtropical climate with the average annual hi/lo temperatures at 16.4/9.7C, with average annual total precipitation at 1563.2 mm. They get 122 cm of snow each year on average.
After the gold rush, commercial gold mining continued until about 30 years ago, and their industry consists primarily of agriculture, fishing, and tourism today. Driving around the island, I saw a lot of abandoned houses, businesses, hotels, and other properties. It’s the off-season for tourism, but I get the sense that there isn’t much money for tourism, as the beaches and shorelines were littered with fishing trash and other trash. Though to be fair, I saw residents cleaning the beaches often, and Japan saw horrendous weather in October, 2019. Just like the rest of Japan, the population is aging, with fewer adults having children. Younger folks are leaving the countryside for the city, and as such, Sado’s population continues to see a decline. It dropped from 125,597 in 1950 to what it is today.
Looking back, I should have spent more time there. Having a car rental for just over 24 hours was not enough. Apparently there are hiking trails, but I believe there are no mountain biking trails. I wished that I had more time to stop more often to take photos. Two nights (with the first night without a car) was just not enough. I recommend you spend at least three nights and get a car rental if you visit Sado.
Another thing I wanted to do was astrophotography. I even bought a smaller star tracker while in Arizona, and brought it over. While it’s not horribly large or heavy, it didn’t even come out of the case because of a thin layer of cloud that was present at the time I attempted, and there was about two hours between nautical twilight and before the near-full moon rose. I took test shots that caught the Milky way, but within 15 minutes, the clouds rolled in. Stars are not readily visible in the 100 photos that I took for the stack, so I turned it into a timelapse.
I had fun photographing during the day, although I would have appreciated another full day. I also really enjoyed learning about the island’s gold rush. Maybe next time I visit the island, I’ll bring my Garrett Super Sluice gold pan.
AloJapan.com