[Two-day / Overnight] Takigi Noh and World Heritage Site Candidate ~ Exploring Aikawa

Sado Island has a long history of Noh theater: Zeami, who is credited for perfecting the art form, was exiled to Sado Island, and the first magistrate on Sado was formerly a Noh performer. These days, Sado Island is still home to one third of Japan’s Noh stages. Nowadays one can experience more variety of Noh schools and performance styles on Sado than anywhere else in Japan. We hope you will come and experience Noh by firelight at one of these summer performances.

Nine times a day, this bus runs its route through the town of Aikawa, from which you can explore the town, its legacy and history. A One-Day Pass (Adult 500 yen, Child 250 yen) and One-Day Family Pass (1000 yen * one pass is valid for up to five people) allow you to head to your desired destination or ride around freely. Come up with your own itinerary on this plan.

*For the Circle Bus schedule, please consult the Niigate Transportation Sado Site Aikawa Circle Bus time table.

Kinzan Circle Bus (Aikawa Tour Bus) Passes are sold:
Niigata Transportation Sado Aikawa Information Centre, Sado-shi Aikawa branch, etc.
For more information: Niigate Transportation Sado Tel. 0259-57-2121

The Kitazawa area in Aikawa is home of a group of facilities such as a power plant and a thickener (designated National Historical Site), which contributed to modernization of mines. The flotation method had originally been used for copper beneficiation, but at Kitazawa Flotation Plant, the technniques were applied to silver and gold extraction, and successfully utilized for the first time in the world. Under a war-time plan of increase in production, large-scale investment was made. As a result, the Flotation Plant was able to process over 50,000 tonnes of ore per month, and the plant was declared the greatest one in the East.

Aikawa Gino Densho Tenjikan offers opportunities to learn about traditional art handed down from generation to generation in Aikawa. The museum offers hands-on experience of Mumyoiyaki, an art which uses potter's clay produced in the gold mine, and rag-weaving on a traditional back-strap loom with careful instruction by staff members. Pottery by artists in Sado, rag-weaving works, and Bunya puppets are on display. The museum sits right in the middle of the tourist area with Kitazawa Flotation Plant and Aikawa Folk Museum.

Founded in 1956, the building of the Aikawa Folk Museum is a converted Sado branch building of the imperial office (which manages imperial property under the Meiji Constitution), and this is why the roof tiles bear the Imperial Seal of a chrysanthemum. This building is designated a National Historic Site. The three-story exhibition halls display materials related to the gold mine and the Sado Commissioner's Office, tools used by courtesans in Aikawa, art work, folk materials, and archeological objects. Explore the rich history of the town which developed along with the silver and gold mines.

Sado Hangamura Museum exhibits a collection of woodblock prints, which are the crowning achievements of the woodblock engraving movement led by late Shinichi Takahashi, a woodblock-print artist and high school teacher. Approximately 300 pieces, centering around Mr. Takahashi's posthumous works and works by amateur artists living in Sado, are on permanent display. You will encounter a variety of print art, including woodblock, copperplate and silk screen prints. The museum also hosts monthly exhibitions and woodblock print workshops (for a fee). The museum building is housed in the former Aikawa Summary Court, the architecture of which contains traces of the Meiji Period.

Sado Kinzan Gold Mine is a collection of historic relics which tell the 400-year history of Sado's gold and silver mines. On the Edo Kinzan Emaki (illustrated scrolls of gold mines) course (Sodayu Tunnel course), full-size dolls and robots provide accurate presentations of the workings of the mines in the past. On the Meiji Government-Controlled Mine course (Doyu Tunnel course), relics of modernization and industrialization still remain. Furthermore, there is also a guided tour course which includes facilities such as "The Best Gold Processing Plant in Asia" and "Japan's First Wetsern-Style Vertical Tunnel", that will cause visitors to marvel at the impressive scale.