Sado Island
(2001 pop. 73,000). Japan's fifthlargest island, Sado (Sadogashima), is located in the Sea of Japan, 35 kilometers from the city of Niigata in Honshu. The island is 853 square kilometers. Beginning in the Nara period (710–794), Sado was an independent province. From the mid-twelfth to the sixteenth century, it was a site of exile for political prisoners. During the Edo period (1600/1603–1868), Sado became a prison colony and came under direct control of the shogunate, which started gold and silver mines there. Today, it is administratively a part of Niigata Prefecture.
Sado, a mountainous island, is formed of three regions. In the northwest the Osada Mountains have the highest peak, Mount Kinpoku (1,172 meters). The southern part is formed by the Kosado Mountains, which average between 500 and 640 meters in height. The Kuninaka Plain, which runs from the northeast to the southwest, has 80 percent of the island's population, mostly in the cities of Ryotsu, Kanai, Sawata, Hatano, Itano, and Mano. The climate is mild, with an annual average temperature of 13° C. Japanese plum trees and mandarin orange trees grow on the island. The main products include rice, squid, oysters, and seaweed. The island is home to the Toki, the Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), an endangered species.
Further Reading
Sugata Masaaki. (1995) Nihon no shima jiten (Dictionary of Japanese Islands). Tokyo: Mikosha.
Waycott, Angus. (1996) Sado: Japan's Island in Exile. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.
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