Sado Island is the 6th largest island in the Japanese archipelago, lying just off the city of Niigata on the Japan sea coast. The island offers beautiful coastal scenery, quaint fishing villages and an all-together slower pace of life. In the middle ages, Sado was the destination for political dissidents and criminals who were sent to the island and subjected to years of hard labor in the freezing gold-mines. Being sent to Sado was a life sentence and few returned to the mainland. Among the exiles was the emperor Juntoku, Buddhist priest Nichinen Shonin and the famous Noh dramatist Zeami. Despite the hardships endured by the prisoners, many arts flourished on the island leaving a rich cultural heritage, which still thrives today. The island’s main temple, Konpon-ji was originally founded to commemorate the spot where Nichinen lived and is an atmospheric sight with mossy gardens and an attractive architectural style. A little more modern is the museum at the Edo-period mines. In order the re-capture the atmosphere, a series of automated displays have been created that show the hard-ship suffered by the prisoners. Also featured are re-enactments of Noh dramas traditionally performed by the workers. The area of the island is 855sq kilometers and very little is populated. Instead, the island offers tracts of open mountainous countryside, rugged coastlines, hidden beaches, grottoes and remote fishing villages. Ancient tradition perseveres in many of these villages and visitors may witness the Tub Boat fisherwomen who set sail in small round tubs to catch seafood in the shallow waters. Often tourists are invited to try too. Most of the time, Sado island is a haven of peace and quiet and the remoteness of the place is nowhere more apparent than on the “Skyline road” which climbs in a series of steep curves and switchbacks to the top of Kinpoku-san, the highest mountain in the island. The sweeping views through fields of wild azaleas out to the open sea are breath taking and confirm Sado’s status as the perfect get-away. However, the peaceful, perfect atmosphere is occasionally shattered when the Ondeko drummers unleash their hypnotic rhythms. The music is potent and wild and combined with the crash of the waves and the harsh, romantic landscapes on Sado, quite intoxicating. After a stay here, visitors may find themselves wishing to be exiled to this idyllic island.