When I ask my Japanese friends if they have been to Sado island, their answer is universal, “Sado? Never!”
I don’t quite blame them because there are so many other wonderful vacation destinations in Japan. Just getting to Sado is some work, so it may not be everyone’s dream vacation. Also, I suspect that Sado is still suffers from it’s history of being a place where political dissidents were sent. Sorry to say, but the island was a place for exiles from 700 to about 1700 AD. Some people still think of Sado as a sad and terrible place for exiles. Listen folks, more than 300 years has passed since the last exile! What people don’t know is that those exiles, who were all elite political figures, brought sophisticated intellectual and cultural assets to the island for a thousand years. Saying that the island has a Kyoto-like feel is not too far from the truth.
I have to confess one thing - I am not the savy traveller who discovered all that Sado now has to offer. I would have continued ignoring this island like all my friends have except for one night when I was studying about sake cups on the internet. I ended up reading a blog about a small sake brewery on the island. Learning about their sake and the brewery aroused my curiosity, and before long, I was deeply mesmerized by the charm and magic of Sado. The more I learned, the more I got excited about going there.
That night, I decided to go. I started dreaming about a Sado island adventure!
For some years I have dreamed about going to Sado Island! Perhaps on a future trip to Japan!