Sado Province

province of Japan

Sado Province (佐渡国, Sado-koku) was an island province of Japan until 1871 when it became a part of Niigata Prefecture on the island of Honshū.[1] It was sometimes called Sashū (佐州) or Toshū (渡州).

Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Sado Province highlighted

History

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View of Sado Province, woodblock print by Hiroshige, 1853

Sado Province was created during the reign of Empress Genshō.[2]

In 1221, Emperor Juntoku was sent into exile on Sado Island.[3] The former emperor is sometimes identified as Sado-no In (佐渡院) because his last years were spent at Sado.[4] Juntoku remained at Sado until his death in 1242.

In the Edo period, Gold was discovered and mined. The Sado mines were added to the tentative World Heritage List in 2010.[5]

In the Meiji period, the provinces of Japan were converted into prefectures. The maps of Japan and Sado Province were reformed in the 1870s.[6]

Geography

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Sado is an island in the Sea of Japan. It was off the coast of Echigo Province.

Shrines and Temples

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Watatsu-jinja was the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) of Sado. [7]

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References

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  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Sado" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 803.
  2. Meyners d'Estrey, Guillaume Henry Jean (1884). Annales de l'Extrême Orient et de l'Afrique, Vol. 6, p. 172; excerpt, Genshō crée sept provinces : Idzumi, Noto, Atoa, Iwaki, Iwase, Suwa et Sado en empiétant sur celles de Kawachi, Echizen, Etchū, Kazusa, Mutsu and Shinano
  3. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs, p. 258.
  4. Bornoff, Nicholas. (2005). National Geographic Traveler Japan, p. 193.
  5. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), "The Sado complex of heritage mines, primarily gold mines". Retrieved 2011-1-20.
  6. Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.
  7. "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 2 Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-1-17.

Other websites

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  Media related to Sado Province at Wikimedia Commons