Sado Province
Sado ( Japanese 佐渡 国 , Sado no kuni ), also called Sashū ( 佐 州 ) or Toshū ( 渡 州 ), was one of the historical provinces of Japan . The area is now part of Niigata Prefecture . It was on the island of Sado off the coast of Echigo province .
Sado was one of the most remote areas of Japan, nobles and aristocrats were often exiled to Sado when they lost the favor of the rulers. Among them were the Emperor Juntoku , the priest Nichiren and Zeami , a Noh actor and author. Since 1601, workers, especially prisoners, were sent to the island to mine gold .
During the Kamakura period , the province was transferred to the Homma clan from the island of Honshū , who ruled Sado until 1589, when Uesugi Kagekatsu took over the island from the neighboring mainland province of Echigo . The Tokugawa - shogunate made Sado after the Battle of Sekigahara for their personal fiefdom .
Today the entire island belongs to the city of Sado .
Coordinates: 38 ° 3 ' N , 138 ° 23' E