11/16 [Talk Session] World Heritage Site "Sado Island Gold Mine" and Mikuni Kaido

~The Golden Road connects the local community~

[speaker]

Mayor of Sado City, Ryugo Watanabe

Yoshio Miyazaki, Mayor of Ojiya

[Presenter]

Ryo Usami, Assistant Section Chief, World Heritage Section, Sado City

Masaaki Shirai, Chief of the Ojiya City Lively Exchange Division (Curator)

Moderator: Keisuke Adachi, Chief of the Ojiya City Lively Exchange Division

On November 16th, an exchange event about the "Gold Road," which transported gold and silver from Sado to Edo during the Edo period, was held at Hontoka., a hub for co-creation of people, towns, and culture in Ojiya City. In addition to a talk session on the World Heritage Site "Sado Island Gold Mine" and the Mikuni Kaido, a variety of events were held, including making oval coins and trying out gold nuggets, attracting many visitors.

The exchange of people and goods connected by the highway

The World Heritage Site "Sado Island Gold Mine" is made up of three mines: Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine, Tsurushi Silver Mine, and Nishimikawa Gold Mine. There are records that "gold was extracted on Sado" at the end of the Heian period, and the island has been known as a gold producing island since ancient times.

Sado was a territory of the Edo Shogunate, and was responsible for managing the mines. Because mechanized European mining technology was not introduced during the isolationist policy, advanced handicraft gold production techniques continued on Sado throughout the Edo period, and this has been recognized as a World Heritage Site.

During the Edo period, 50,000 people lived in Aikawa alone. Supplies could not be supplied on the island alone, so goods had to be transported from outside the island. In addition, the magistrates and officials of the Sado Magistrate's Office had fixed terms of office and were transferred from Edo. A road was needed to transport money, gold coins, supplies, and people to Edo.

At the time, the routes connecting Sado and Edo were the Hokkoku Kaido, the Mikuni Kaido, and the Aizu Kaido. Of these, the Hokkoku Kaido was mainly used to transport gold. The Mikuni Kaido was used by magistrates and officials when they were transferred to Sado, but there are also records that it was used to transport gold when the Hokkoku Kaido road collapsed due to a disaster.

On Sado, industries related to mining, such as Mumyoi ware, were also born. The roads connected the region, including these industries, and people and goods were exchanged.

The flow of people creates culture

Sado and Ojiya have three "relationships." The first is "geopark." Both were once underwater and rose together from the bottom of the ocean.

The second is the "prosperity of industry." Both were territories of the Edo Shogunate, and Sado's gold and silver mines and Ojiya-shime silk crepe in Ojiya were industries that were treasured by the Shogunate. "Ojiya-shime and Echigo-jofu" are registered as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, and together with the World Heritage Site "Sado Island Gold Mines," they are both heritage sites recognized worldwide.

The third is "culture." Cultures born from exchanges with people from other regions remain. In Sado, there are Noh and puppet theaters, and in Ojiya, there are shrine maiden puppeteers and Mokujiki Kannon. The most important thing for the flow of people is roads. In an era before airplanes, there would be no flow of people without well-maintained roads.

Of the roads connecting Sado and Edo, the shortest route is the Mikuni Kaido, but it is extremely steep. People used the Mikuni Kaido when passing through, while those transporting goods used the Hokkoku Kaido. We are currently working with local residents to maintain the old Mikuni Kaido road. By maintaining it, anyone can enjoy the old road, and it also serves as content for exploring history.

The two cities collaborate to disseminate information

Niigata Prefecture is a hub of the wonderful culture of Japan from the Edo period, including gold and silver mines and Nishikigoi carp. Taking the example of Sado Island's gold mine, the culture was born as many people came to Sado for mining. There's also the prefecture's only five-story pagoda (Myosenji Temple), ondeko (drumming) with around 120 schools on the island, and no other region where you can see bonfire Noh performances by ordinary citizens at over a dozen locations throughout the year.

Through this culture, I would like people to enjoy coming back to Sado again and again. I would like to increase the number of tourists, not just inbound tourists or tourists with high unit prices, but backpackers and others who will strap on a backpack and stay in Sado for a week and in Ojiya for a week. The key to creating such a system is actually World Heritage Sites.

It is often said that Niigata Prefecture is too large, but imagine Hokkaido, where tourist destinations such as Obihiro and Sapporo are far away. If you use the Shinkansen, train, or jetfoil, Sado and Ojiya are close by, so they are not far away for visitors to Niigata Prefecture.

It is very important to preserve the atmosphere of Edo and combine it with "authenticity." However, Niigata Prefecture is weak at disseminating information. I would like to work with Ojiya to disseminate unique projects.

Combining treasures for innovation

Niigata Prefecture is proud of its world-class attractions: Sado Island's gold mines and Ojiya's Nishikigoi carp. While snow and food can be found elsewhere, gold mines and Nishikigoi carp can only be found here. By combining these two major attractions, we hope to raise the value not only of Sado and Ojiya, but of Niigata Prefecture and Japan as a whole.

Three years ago, Nishikigoi was designated as the national fish. We held the "World Nishikigoi Summit," and next autumn we are working with the relevant local governments to hold a "World Summit" in Niigata City. As part of the "Cool Japan Expo" project, we will be promoting content that Japan is proud of to the world. It will be a major project that will attract people from overseas.

In addition, in 2028, the Tokyo Torch Tower will be completed near the Nihonbashi exit of Tokyo Station. There is a pond of Nishikigoi carp from Ojiya on the site, and right next to it, gold ore from Sado is on display. We would like to communicate our culture by combining gold mines and Nishikigoi carp to people from all over the world who visit the building. We also hope to create an exchange of culture, race, and economy, similar to the journey to Sado via the Mikuni Kaido.

Digging deeper into history and polishing our treasures, the combination of different industries can be called innovation (technological advancement).

【event】

The venue was a great success, with activities such as a "gold nugget grabbing experience" where participants grabbed a 7.5 kg gold nugget replica in an acrylic box through a small hole, a "coin making experience" where participants shaped clay into oval coins and stamped them, and sales of local products from Sado.

In addition, the Sado performing arts group Etsusa performed ondeko, thrilling the audience.