Artisans & Exiles: Exploring the Hidden Traditions of Japan’s Sado IslandArtisans & Exiles: Exploring the Hidden Traditions of Japan’s Sado Island

This morning we'll depart Tokyo by express train to the city of Nikko in the mountains north of Tokyo in the Tochigi Prefecture. Famous for its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, scenic slopes, lakes, National Park, hot springs, and waterfalls, Nikko is a fantastic place to begin our dive into Japanese culture. We'll start at the elaborate and colorful Toshogu Shrine, dedicated to the resting place of the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, a famous Shogun from the Edo Period in the 17th century. We'll hop on a bus for the short ride to Kegon Waterfall (Kegon no taki), one of the top three most beautiful waterfalls in Japan. This nearly 100m drop is the only exit for the Daiya River out of Lake Chuzenji. We'll then transfer to our hotel in Nikko for the night.

We'll have a leisurely wake-up and departure this morning before departing in the late morning by road, stopping for a walk and to see the Fukiware Waterfall (Fukiware no taki). The Katashina River forms a gorge between the confluence of the Hikawa River upstream and the Kurihara River downstream. The river flows down the gorge over three sides of a cliff formed by a volcanic eruption nine million years ago. After our visit, we'll transfer to Jomokogen Station to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) Niigata. The rural, coastal Niigata Prefecture in Northern Japan is known for its wealth of rice paddies, which produce a rich harvest each fall and support the production of rice-related products such as sake and mochi. Look out for the Niigata Rice Cracker Museum, a snack factory that boasts several tributes to its popular line of rice crackers, including a quasi-shrine. This evening we'll enjoy the hospitality and hot spring onsen of a traditional Japanese ryokan.

This morning we’ll visit the ateliers and studios of artisans specializing in cutlery and copperware in the metalworking area of Tsubame-Sanjo. Famous for their swift and clever methods of adapting to Japan's ever-changing landscape of technology and culture, Tsubame-Sanjo has many of the country's most skilled metalworking artisans. After some free time in the middle of the day to explore on our own, we'll be treated to a special geisha performance. Geisha have been present in Niigata for over two hundred years. In the Edo period, as a coastal prefecture, Niigata contributed to the prosperity of the country by sending food to the Kansai region in the southwest of the country. As thanks, Kyoto is said to have sent "culture" to Tohoku in return, such as festivals and geisha. After the performance, we'll have a private introduction to another of Niigata’s famous products: sake. After our sake brewery tour and tasting, we catch a ferry to Sado Island, Japan’s sixth-largest island.

Beginning in the 8th century, Japanese rulers used Sado Island as a place of exile for political dissidents, including politicians, aristocrats, poets, playwrights, artists, monks, and even banished emperors. The fact that the exiles were made up of intellectuals and artists provided a foundation for Sado’s unique cultural traditions that are still thriving today. We'll begin today with a visit to Seisuiji and Chokokuji Temples, both founded in the early 9th century. Chokokuji Temple lies deep in the forest and was founded by Kobo Daishi, the same monk who also established the famous Koyasan temple complex in Wakayama Prefecture in 807. While the temple has been known for its flowering peonies, in 2018 it gained a new claim to fame: a nearly 20-foot tall “Rabbit Kannon.” The dramatic statue is of a large white bunny with an image of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, sculpted onto its chest. The priest had it constructed in honor of the large community of friendly domestic rabbits who help keep the temple’s lawn nicely trimmed. Then, we'll take a short hike along the coast of the Onogame, a giant 167-meter monolith shaped like a turtle that juts out over the water.

Once a place of aristocratic exile, today Sado Island features a wealth of stunning scenery including its open mountainous countryside, rugged coastlines, hidden beaches, grottoes, and fishing villages. This morning we'll climb on some electric bikes and cycle through the island’s paddy fields and revel in the remarkable coastal scenery, a photographer’s dream. Once the cycling is done, the rest of the day is yours to explore the island as you wish.

After spending the morning with independent exploration, we'll gather at noon to visit a ghost shipbuilding village in a small inlet. The village of Shukunegi was a port town since medieval times, but when gold was discovered on the island in the 17th century, the village prospered and became a port of call for the merchant shipping industry. We’ll walk around this perfectly preserved collection of over 100 houses built with walls made from ship planks, now lifeless but yet still brimming over with atmosphere. Next, we’ll take a ride on Sado Island’s Tarai Bune. These unconventional "tub boats" let locals row around the island's turbulent coast. Although almost completely un-boatlike in appearance, the tarai bune are intimately associated with this remote Japanese island. Origin stories about the unusual vessels abound. Some say that centuries ago, some enterprising person cut a miso barrel in half to use as a boat, giving rise to the local nickname of hangiri (half barrel). Others say that it was a happy discovery when someone’s tub floated away and appeared to glide stably along the wild coast. And of course, there are also local legends about a maiden using a tub to make her way to the mainland to see her beloved, later perishing in a storm. These unique vessels were popularized by Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece “Spirited Away”. Once the sun has gone down, we’ll have the rare opportunity to see one of Sado's most iconic experiences: an outdoor performance of a form of classical Japanese dance-drama called Noh. One of the island’s cultural traditions brought and fostered by the exiled nobles, Sado is now one of the most active Noh spots in all of Japan.

Sado is probably most famous today for its extremely skilled and internationally-renown taiko drummers. The drum group Kodo, founded in 1981, is perhaps the most well-known musical act from Sado of all time, and they’ll be the ones guiding us through our drumming experience today! We'll be under excellent leadership indeed, as this group of approximately sixty members has attracted a strong following from all over the world. After this morning’s modern cultural experience, we'll travel back in time this afternoon to the island’s 17th-century gold rush boom where the town of Aikawa flourished. For centuries, this gold mine was the powerhouse behind the Tokugawa Shogunate. There’s nothing like walking through the dark tunnels and coming across a life-sized, animatronic miner peering out at you from the shadows. While we get adjusted to the robotic miners as we proceed along the course, the first encounter gives a delightful frisson that has nothing to do with the cool temperature of the caves. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the island in search of fortune, and the Japanese government began to send a different kind of exile to the shores of Sado. The homeless of Edo city (now Tokyo) were rounded up and set to work in the mines in conditions no better than slavery. The toiling “miners” really show how difficult and back-breaking the labor was, however, some of the best displays recreate festivals and rituals performed during the Edo Period.

Before beginning the journey back to Tokyo, this morning we'll stretch our legs with an easy hike around Mount Donden (meaning “roundtop”), known for the wild grasses and abundant flowers that grow across its slopes. After lunch, we board the ferry back to the mainland and then catch the bullet train at Niigata Station to Tokyo Station. From here your tour leader will assist with onward transport to the airport for your homebound flight.

After nearly a week of exploring some of Japan’s many natural and human wonders, hopping from temple to waterfall to ghost village to tub boat, it’s time to bid farewell to this fascinating region and the friends we’ve made along the way. Until our next adventure!