What to Do on Sado Island

Eat Nishime

Each region of Japan has its own soul food. On Sado, this is nishime, a dish that looks similar to oden to the untrained eye. Just like oden, nishime consists of various ingredients that is cooked in a hot pot style manner. Typical ingredients are egg, carrot, daikon (Japanese horseradish), bamboo shoots, tofu, and slices of konjac starch. Sometimes the dish is decorated with bonito flakes. Simple, yet very delicious!

Go to the beach

Sado Island has countless beaches stretching along most of the long coastline. Some are covered in white sand, while others are of the rocky nature. One of the most popular sandy beaches is Sawata Beach, located in the center of one of the island, with both restaurants and many different shops within walking distance. For the longest beach, head to Sobama Beach, four kilometers of perfect sand, crystal clear water and shallow waters. Please note, however, that the official swimming season only last for a little over a month, beginning on July 15th and ending on August 20th.

Ride a Tub Boat

“Tarai-bune”, or tub boat is a small and simple vessel that is typically used to collect seaweed and shellfish from the shallow waters along the coast. These boats have become something of a symbol of Sado Island, particularly for the towns of Ogi and Shukunegi on the southern coast. Several companies arrange short rides that last for about 10 minutes and will set you back less than 500 yen.

Visit a festival

There are a myriad of smaller local festivals taking place on Sado Island, particularly in August. The biggest one is the Ogi Minato Matsuri, when a large portion of the Sado population gathers in this southern town. The festival concludes with a large fireworks show and a quirky dance event that combines traditional Japanese dance with Brazilian samba rhymes, performed live. Your best bet to find the festivals is by inquiring the Ryotsu Tourist Information Office, that provides excellent service and has some English-speaking staff as well.

Learn more about the shipbuilding history

Sado has a long tradition of building wooden ships ranging in scope from the small tarai-bune to larger wooden freight ships. If you are interested in the history of Sado Island in general, and shipbuilding, we highly recommend that you pay a visit to the Ogi Folk Museum, where a replica of an Edo era freight ship is on display. Visitors are even allowed to climb inside to get a feeling for what life was like on one of these old vessels.

佐渡島

新潟県佐渡市

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Sawata Beach

Nigata Pref. Sadoshi Kawaharadahonmachi

0259677602

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Sobama Beach

Niigata Sado-shi Kobie

0259863111

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Shukunegi

Nigata Pref. Sadoshi Shukunegi

0259-86-3852

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