Sado is an island to the north-west of Niigata. It takes around an hour by jetfoil, and presumably somewhat longer by ferry. It is famous for being a place to where people were exiled in the past, such as the monk Nichiren and the playwright Zeami. It also has some extremely scenic places. It being bigger than we had anticipated, we chose a handful of places and went there.

Firstly, a couple of shots on the theme of travel...

The first stop was a small inlet which goes by the name of "Senkaku". This happens to also be the name of a small group of islands which Japan disputes - territorially - with a number of other Asian nations. Other than the name, though, there's no connection. One thing I can say for Sado's Senkaku is that it's one of the best places I've been to, photographically speaking, in quite some time.

I was somewhat concerned that the only way would be down after a place like that. However, the next place was also quite interesting: an abandoned mine.

This carved map of the area was so impressive that I thought it merited a picture of its own

Following this, we went to the last stop for the day: a sanctuary for a bird known in Japanese as "toki", and in English as the "Japanese Crested Ibis". They are trying to breed them and eventually let them back into the wild. Apparently they are rather nervous birds, and visitors are requested not to make sudden or loud noises around them.

That covers Sado; the last part of this entry will cover the last night in Niigata and the flight home (window seat plus Sigma: win).

Thanks for looking!