"Osado" (North)

This district in the north of the island is a place with magnificent natural scenery and includes the Osado mountain range crowned by the 1,172m high peak of Mount Kinpoku. The wild countryside, much of it untouched by human hand, makes a strong impression on climbers and trekkers. Along the coastline, visitors are thrilled by the beautiful sea with its exceptionally clear water and the "masculine" cliffs and oddly-shaped rocks carved out by the Japan Sea's stormy waves. Since days of old people have accepted the blessings of sea and mountain in order to live. That is why you can see fishing villages dotted along the coast. This district, which still shows traces of its days under Shogunate control when the gold mine was booming, offers many places of interest as one of Sado's most famous tourist spots.

This is the gateway for getting to and from Mount Donden with its famous trekking and climbing courses. Here you will also find Haguro Shrine in Mount Haguro where the Yabusame ritual, designated one of Niigata Prefecture's intangible folk cultural assets, has been carried out since the Kamakura Period.

A picturesque spot famous for kanzo flowers (hemerocallis middendorffii, var. exaltata) , craggy rocks, and the transparent water around Futatsu-Game and Ono-Game. On summer evenings you will enjoy the magical atmosphere of the fishing lights floating on the horizon to lure cuttlefish to the boats.

This area, which flourished at one time under Shogunate control, still shows traces of its former glory. Doyuunowarito, the rock at the ruins of the mine which looks as though it was split by an ax, as a result of gold-mining activity, has become the symbol of Sado's gold mine. The mining town close by, where people connected with the mine lived, also retains memories of its "gold rush" days.