kuninaka area, sado

although this is about sado, id like to write in english today, since its not about thesis.

thanks to Tsuchiya-san, the base during my stay was in Niibo, one of 10 former municipalities until the city of Sado was established in 2004. its located in the middle of the island, called kuninaka area. this time i try to describe the characteristics of kuninaka area in general. but no analysis. just some facts and impressions.

since Sado was designated as the island of banishment from middle ages, there were many political criminals sent to sado, including the retired emperor juntoku, Noh founder Zeami, and famous buddhist monk Nichiren. thanks for the banishment, Sado could develop its noble noble culture. maybe thanks to the influence of zeami, the Noh stages are found anywhere in kuninaka, although the number of it is decreased dramatically in modern times. kokubunji was also established. whats more, since it didnt get victimized during the war time, the buildings are really well preserved.

since i could ride a bike thanks to Tsuchiyasan, and i even could get free ride thanks to many people, i didnt have much difficulties to visit some important sites. but its very difficult to travel around in sado without any cars. sado is really huge, but the public transport seriously sucks. the bus could be catched only once a hour or twice at the most. some peripheral areas have 2-3 busses a day or so... from this perspectives, its almost impossible to see everything without cars.

from the base in Niibo, i could visit some beautiful temples (and maybe shrines) in kuninaka, mostly by bike, and by Saigasan's and Tsuchiyasan's car. Ushio shrine has famous Noh stage, Choukokuji is well known for its peony garden, Seisuiji is well known as the famous Kiyomizudera (in Kyoto) in sado, Myousenji has the only five story pagoda in Niigata prefecture, and there are more and more and more cultural buildings.

with regards to nature, kuninaka is a plain field area surrounded by the Osado's highlands and Kosado's highlands. there are many rice fields. the sunset which can be seen from kuninaka was surely the gift from the nature. Tsuchiyasan told me the sunset from Nanaura was even greater, but still i really appreciated it every sunny days...

when i saw them it was very reasonable that some answers for the Q2 (what do u like in Sado?) were sky. i really need to visit there again! but maybe with drivers license and very comfortable bicycle. i really recomend you to go there if u havent been there, but stay there at least a few nights. sado wont betray your expectations no matter highly u dream about it, if u go to visit proper places!