Event

An annual event! As one of our efforts to create attractive places to visit at night around the island, this year we will again light up the historic Kitazawa Flotation Plant.

Kodo, a taiko drumming group based on Sado Island. Because this is their home base, we can offer you a special, intimate experience. This fall’s performance will be held at Marine Plaza Ogi! We hope you’ll enjoy the sound of the taiko drums up close.

This event has become a well-known food event on Sado Island. Visitors can enjoy traditional performing arts while eating Osaki soba (buckwheat noodles), a specialty of the island, boiled and seasoned fish, and other local delicacies. Many tourists and repeaters come from outside the island, so be sure to make reservations early.

At Shoboji Temple, a Noh play is performed in memory of Kanze Motokiyo (Zeami), who was exiled to Sado. You can see a Noh performance in the mysterious light of candles, in the main hall of the temple where Zeami is said to have stayed. Before the performance starts, join the tea ceremony named "Haisho no Tsuki (moon viewed from the place of exile)" presented in the Omotesenke style. Enjoy a cup of maccha green tea prepared with the deep-sea water pumped up in Oda, Hatano, where Zeami landed on Sado Island. On this occasion, a special seminar is also held, and the ritual mask "Beshimi" (a mask with its mouth clamped firmly shut), a Niigata Prefecture's Designated Cultural Asset, is displayed to the public.

Aikawa Festival is the annual festival of Uto Shrine, the tutelary shrine of the Aikawa area. With over 400 years of tradition, it is one of the largest village festivals in Sado. After rituals at the shrine, a portable shrine is paraded through the town, while a taiko team, a Mamemaki dancer dancing to the beat and a lion go from house to house. The climax is in the cumulation of lights around 9 pm, when the portable shrine returns accompanied by lanterns hanging from long poles, to the main shrine, itself surrounded by strung up red and white paper lanterns. It is a scene that makes you feel the weight of history.

Momijiyama Festival is annually held on the last Sunday of October at Momijiyama Park, one of the top spots to view autumn leaves, and attracts many visitors from both inside and outside the island. The persimmon peeling contest, matsutake mushroom hunting and other attractions are gaining popularity. Visitors can enjoy soba buckwheat noodles, too. This event is chock full of pleasures to savor autumn on Sado Island.

Three restaurants on Sado Island and three popular ramen shops in Niigata Prefecture will serve “a bowl of ramen that pairs perfectly with Sado-grown Koshihikari rice.” We’ll be serving ramen that showcases each shop’s unique character and creativity. Next to the ramen shops, we’ll set up a booth featuring freshly cooked Sado-grown Koshihikari rice. In addition, we’ll feature traditional Sado performing arts, live music, merchandise booths, and hands-on activities, allowing you to experience the charm of Niigata Prefecture’s food and culture with all five senses. Don’t miss this chance to discover a truly special bowl of ramen—please come visit the “Sado Rice and Noodles Festival 2026” venue.

Once a year, the Sado Don’ō Tea Ceremony is held in memory of Don’ō (Takashi Masuda), who is hailed as “the greatest tea master since Sen no Rikyū.” To honor his achievements, the tea ceremony will be held again this year at the Sado Magistrate’s Office, where Takashi Masuda’s father once served. This year, during the two-day event, you can enjoy two tea ceremonies—one by the Omotesenke school and one by the Urasenke school—as well as a light refreshments session on both days. Let’s take a moment to savor a cup of tea during this peaceful autumn season while reflecting on the character and achievements of Masuda Takashi, one of Sado’s great figures.

Kotoura Matsuri is the annual festival of Hakusan Shrine, situated in the Ogi Kotoura area which is famous for its good diving spots. Two big, red lions parade through the streets from door to door on the 2nd, to drive away evil spirits.

The annual Big Flea Market will be held again this year at Ryotsu Shopping Street. A wide variety of clothing, toys, food, and other miscellaneous items will be up for sale. This major event attracts many people every year.

This event brings together folk song groups from all over Sado Island. This year's theme is "Iwau - Folk songs about the World Heritage-listed gold mine on Sado Island" A raffle will be held before the finale. You may win wonderful products!

This is a seafood event held at the Sado Regional Seafood Wholesale Market. The event features a variety of activities, including an on-site sales area and entertainment performances. *Please see the "Notes" section for the flyer image.

Osaki Soba no Kai is a gourmet event which has achieved widespread popularity. While sampling the specialty soba (buckwheat noodles) and local dishes such as nishime (a stewed dish), you can enjoy a variety of traditional local performing arts. This is an event that satisfies both your stomach and heart! Book early, as spaces fill up quickly with both tourists from outside the island and repeat visitors.

Otaue Rice Planting Festival takes place at Gosho Shrine, which is well-known for its huge cedar tree. Performances mimicking rice planting activities are dedicated to the shrine deity to bring a bountiful harvest to the community. The rituals of the festival are divided into seven parts: seedling picking, field plowing, lunch break during planting activities, field-flattening, planting, and dinner after planting. During the rituals of seedling picking and planting, konaeuchi musicians (played by boys) perform music accompanied by the rhythm of drums. After the rituals, offerings to the deity are shared by the attendants. This event is designated as a Niigata Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Asset.

This event has become a well-known food event on Sado Island. Visitors can enjoy traditional performing arts while eating Osaki soba (buckwheat noodles), a specialty of the island, boiled and seasoned fish, and other local delicacies. Many tourists and repeaters come from outside the island, so be sure to make reservations early.

There are three types of puppet theater on Sado Island, each in the form of a one-man puppet show that retains the old form of joruri, and each is performed by a preservation society in various locations on the island. The regular performances of puppet plays have been revived for the first time in decades. Please come and join us.

For those of you who love Sado, the Sado Cultural Foundation presents this workshop. Hear directly from the performers, learn their movements, and experience Sado performing arts rooted in daily life.

This winter's new stage production is a collaborative piece featuring guest performer Choi Jaecheol, a Korean drum artist (changgo). It is a project-style piece created by exploring together Choi's advocacy of "the rhythm that emerges from walking." Enjoy this latest work that looks at the three pillars of "physicality, musicality, and spirituality" from the ground up. It is both new and profound - uniquely KODO.