History
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Sado Island was originally connected to Honshu, but it separated from Honshu around 16 million years ago due to changes in the topography due to tectonic deformation and volcanic activity, and around 2 million years ago, the ground began to collapse due to compressive kinetic energy in the ocean floor. It is thought that the area rose to its current shape, with the Osado Mountains and Kosado Hills sandwiching the Kuninaka Plain. Uplift continues to this day due to tectonic movements such as earthquakes.
Sado gold mine
With a long history, Sado Island has been inhabited by humans for 10,000 years. Thousands of ruins discovered in the Kanai area included stoneware and hunting equipment from the late Yayoi period. There are also records of Sado in the Kojiki and Nihongi. After the Taika Reform, the central government established the Sado Province on the island, and the local population began to emigrate to Sado Island. At the same time, Sado Island has also become the place where losers of political conflicts or dissidents were exiled. Emperor Juntoku, Nichiren and other people had been exiled to Sado. After the Kamakura period, the Honma clan was appointed as the Shugodai. After 1589 ( Tenshō 17), Uesugi Kagekatsu invaded Sado Island, after which Sado Island was dominated by the Uesugi clan.
In 1601, miners discovered veins of gold and silver in the Aikawa Tsuruko Ginzan, which became the Sado Mine. In 1603 (Keichō 8), Tokugawa Ieyasu classified Sado Island as a territory of the Bakufu immediately after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara. Sado Mine developed into the largest goldmine in Japan. Its output reached 41 tons by the Bakumatsu period in the mid-19th century, and it played an important role in the financing of the Shogunate. After the middle of the Edo period, the quantity began to decrease, but output rose to the highest level ever, at 400 kg a year, thanks to the introduction of advanced excavation technology during the Meiji era in the late 19th century. Sado Gold Mine closed in 1989. In nearly 400 years of mining history, it produced 78 tons of gold and 2,300 tons of silver.
After the abolition of the han system, the Japanese government established Sado Prefecture on Sado Island, but later renamed it Aikawa Prefecture. In 1876, Aikawa Prefecture was incorporated into Niigata Prefecture. In 2004, ten cities, towns and villages on Sado Island were merged to form Sado City.
Forced labor[edit]
See also: Hashima Island § World Heritage Site approval controversy
Sado Island was the site of forced labor during World War II, when around 1,500 Koreans were conscripted and forced to work in the mines on the island.[citation needed] The Japanese government, some Japanese scholars, and a minority of international scholars oppose this claim. Koreans are even mentioned in an exhibit in one of the mines, but there is no implication that they were forced to work there.
In 2022, this became the subject of a diplomatic conflict between South Korea and Japan. Japan had previously added Hashima Island, another island where forced labor occurred (which Japan denies), to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. However, the nomination was only approved because South Korea and Japan had reached a deal where Japan would acknowledge forced labor in its exhibits. Japan, under the guidance of Japanese politician Kōko Katō [ja] and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, went back on its word and created a museum denying that forced labor occurred on Hashima. All other 21 nations of the UNESCO committee agreed that Japan had failed to reach its side of the agreement, but Japan ignored requests to correct the museum. It subsequently filed to have Sado Island added to the list as well, which sparked international and domestic criticism. This request was initially denied due to concerns over how the island's history would be presented. Japan refiled the request on 28 January 2023, with the goal of being added to the list by 2024.
Various sources expressed skepticism on whether the bid would be successful. However, on 27 July 2024, the UNESCO committee unanimously decided to register the Sado Island Gold Mines as a cultural heritage site. The bid gained the support of South Korea following bilateral negotiations between the two countries. The Japanese government established an exhibit about the harsh working conditions, and promised to hold an annual memorial. Additionally, a representative for the Japanese government told the committee that Japan would make efforts to "comprehensively address the whole history of the Sado Island Gold Mines" in consultation with South Korea. The listing has been described as an improvement in Japan-South Korea relations, although it has been met with criticism in South Korea. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's friendlier position to Japan has been analyzed in the context of the approval.
