Sado Kinzan (Sado gold mine)

Historic Site Sado Gold Mine is Japan’s largest gold mine on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture. In recent years it has aimed for World Heritage inscription and was added to UNESCO’s Tentative List in 2011. At Sado Gold Mine, visitors can tour three courses including Edo-period mining scenes, tunnels, and industrial facilities. For first-time visitors, the Sodayu Tunnel Course is recommended: it recreates Edo-period mining with about 70 life-size figures along a roughly 300-meter route. At the end of the tunnel, a museum explains mining work and the process of producing koban gold coins. The mine continued actual extraction until the first year of the Heisei era (1989), and later became a historic site. The Doyu Tunnel Course allows you to visit tunnels used for mining up to modern times, letting you feel the atmosphere. The Edo-specialist course shows a secluded site linked to the discovery of the mine. Access: take a ferry to Ryotsu Port, then about 50 minutes by car from Ryotsu Port.