You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (February 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,142 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:佐渡金山]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|佐渡金山}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Sado mine

Sado Mine (Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine) Location of Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine
Location
Sado mine Show map of Niigata Prefecture Sado mine Show map of Japan
Niigata Prefecture
Country	Japan
Coordinates	38°2′29.83″N 138°15′21.17″E / 38.0416194°N 138.2558806°E / 38.0416194; 138.2558806
Production
Products	Silver, gold
History
Closed	1989
National Historic Site of Japan

The Sado gold mine (佐渡金山, Sado Kinzan) is a generic term for gold and silver mines which were once located on the island of Sado in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. ^{[1] [2]} Among these mines, the Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine (相川金銀山, Aikawa kinginzan) was the largest and was in operation until the modern era. The Sado Gold and Silver Mine was inscribed on Japan's World Heritage Tentative List under the title "The Sado Complex of Heritage Mines, Primarily Gold Mines" in 2010.

The origins of mining on Sado are unknown; however, surface deposits of native gold and argentite in quartz substrate have been known since at least the Heian period. In the Heian period Konjaku Monogatarishū (Tales of Ancient and Modern Japan), there is an anecdote about a trip to Sado Province to mine for gold sand. ^[3]

A chief iron sand miner in Noto Province said that there was no other place where gold could be extracted as well as on Sado Island. The governor of Noto heard this story and asked him if it was true. The chief demanded a small boat and some food, and crossed over to Sado. A month or so later, when the governor had almost forgotten about the story, the chief returned from Sado. When the governor met him, the chief presented him with gold sand wrapped in a piece of cloth. After that, the chief suddenly disappeared, and the governor asked around for him, but finally could not locate him. The people suspected that the chief had disappeared, perhaps thinking that he would be questioned about the whereabouts of the gold sand. It is said that the gold sand brought by the chief was worth as much as 1,000 ryō.

It seems that gold was known to be produced on Sado Island, at least in the form of gold sand, etc., by the late 11th century, when the Konjaku Monogatarishū is estimated to have been written. A similar anecdote is also found in the Uji Shūi Monogatari (Gleanings from Uji Dainagon Monogatari) written in the first half of the 13th century. ^[4]

There is a popular mythology that the mines of Sado were the secret source of wealth for the Sengoku period warlord Uesugi Kenshin, which was widely popularized by the novelist Jirō Nitta; however, during this period, Sado was controlled by the Honma clan, and it was only after the Honma were defeated in 1589 by Kenshin's successor Uesugi Kagekatsu that the island and its mines came under the control of the Uesugi clan.

Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the island became tenryō territory under the direct control of the Shogunate. This corresponded with the discovery of a new gold vein in 1601 in what would later become the Aikawa gold and silver mine. During its peak production period, from around 1615 to 1645, the mines on Sado produced an estimated 400 kilograms of gold and 37.5 tons of silver per year, making Sado one of the largest producers of gold and silver in the world, and forming a substantial portion of the income for the Tokugawa shogunate. ^[5] During the early period, the mine workers were paid handsomely and the surrounding towns were prosperous. However, by the later half of the Edo period, extraction was becoming increasingly difficult due to water ingression from natural springs and into the tunnels following veins of ore underneath the seabed. The shogunate supplemented the local workforce by bringing in convicted criminals and indigents from the streets of Edo. Conditions for these forced laborers was extremely harsh, as they were used for the most dangerous tasks and for the heavy labor involved in draining the mines, and a sentence to the Sado mines was a life sentence.

By the Meiji restoration, production had dropped considerably and the new Meiji government sold the mines to a consortium led by Mitsubishi in 1896. Using imported machinery and modern mining techniques, including cableways, vertical shafts and improved extraction technology, the Aikawa mine was able to increase production to 1500 kilograms of gold and 25 tons of silver annually by 1940.

In February 1939, the Sado Mine first recruited workers on the Korean Peninsula to fill the shortage of Japanese laborers for the draft. ^[6] At the time, the Korean Peninsula was part of Japan's territory. The recruiting area was mainly in Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province), and the recruitment was so popular that for every 20 people recruited per village, there were 40 applicants. ^[6] It is believed that the drought in South Korea in 1938 was one of the reasons for the high number of applicants. However, most of them only applied because they longed for life on the Japanese mainland, and many of them fled as soon as they arrived in Shimonoseki or Osaka. ^[6] Between February 1939 and the last recruitment in March 1945, a total of 1,200 Korean workers came to the Sado Mine (not including their accompanying families). ^[6]

However, the actual number of Korean workers working at the Sado Mine was only about half of that number: as of the end of May 1943, the number of Korean workers who came to the Sado Mine was 1005, of which 10 died, 148 escaped, 6 were repatriated for public injuries, 30 for personal illness, 25 for bad conduct, 72 were furloughed, and 130 transferred out. The actual number of Korean workers was 584. ^[6]

The average number of working days for a Korean worker at that time was about 28 days, and the average monthly income was 66.77 yen. There was also an incentive for full-time work. In the event of death, the company paid up to 300 yen. In addition, a school was set up by the company to provide Japanese language education for those who wanted to improve their Japanese. ^[7]

However, since food, bedding, and work clothes were not free, Korean workers sometimes went on strike demanding better treatment, and the Sado Mining Works had a hard time improving their conditions. ^[7]

In 1945, the Sado Mine did not perform well in copper mining and there was an excess of Korean workers. Therefore, in August of the same year, the Sado Mine dispatched 189 workers to Saitama Prefecture as the first group of volunteer workers and 219 workers to Fukushima Prefecture as the second group of volunteer workers, for a total of 408 workers. ^[7]

On August 15, 1945, the Pacific War ended with Japan's defeat. As of August 15, 244 Koreans were working at the Sado Mine. Immediately after the defeat, Koreans who had been sent to the Sado Mine from Sado as the first and second “special volunteer corps” returned to the mine. The Fukushima group arrived on August 26, and the Saitama group on August 27 and 28, for a total of 319 workers. The original number of 408 Koreans dispatched was 408, but during this period, 89 Koreans were reported missing. These were those who escaped while in Saitama or Fukushima, or refused to return to Sado Island after August 15. ^[8]

In addition, due to the defeat in the war, there was a succession of those who fled Sado and those who returned to the mines, and by the end of August, the number of Koreans at the Sado Mine reached 573. 7 new Koreans fled from the Sado Mine between August 15 and September 11, while 27 returned to the mines. ^[8]

Mining operations had been reduced by a large scale by 1952. The final mining operations were stopped on March 31, 1989.

Since the closure of the mine, efforts have been made to turn some of the sites, particularly the Aikawa mine into tourist attraction and to preserve some of the buildings and facilities as part of Japan's industrial heritage. ^[9] Of the estimated 400 kilometres (250 mi) of tunnels in the Aikawa Mine, about 300 metres (0.19 mi) have been opened to the public as a museum, with mannequins and explanatory dioramas to explain the history of the facility.

The Sado gold mine was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1994, with the area under protection expanded in 2017. ^[10]

• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Niigata)
• Aikawa, Niigata

Media related to Sado Gold Mine at Wikimedia Commons

• Sado city official site (in English)
• Sado Island Gold Mines - Niigata Prefectural Government (in English)
• Historic Site Sado Kinzan Gold Mine - Sado Tourism Association (in English)
• Information for visitor - Golden Sado (in English)