Japan’s Sado Mines Become New UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sight
Looking for a new, unique travel destination in Japan? Learn more about what was once the world’s largest gold mine.
By Marin Akasaka
The Gold Mine of Sado Island (佐渡島の金山）was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sight at the most recent UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting last Saturday. The Sado Mines have become Japan’s 26th site to be added to the list.
The World Heritage Committee met in New Delhi to decide on new World Heritage sites. The Japanese committee nominated the Sado Mines, and after deliberations, the committee unanimously decided to register them as a World Cultural Heritage site.
The newly added Sado Mines are located on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. Sado Island is approximately 100 kilometers from the Noto Peninsula and is the largest island in the Sea of Japan.
Once the World’s Largest Gold Mine
Traditional wooden buildings still stand around the city on the island, evoking the “good old days” of Japan. At the Sado Mines, miners extracted and produced gold without machines from the…
