World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage
Sado Island Gold Mines
Components
Main data
- Name of Property
- Sado Island Gold Mines
- Components
- Nishimikawa Placer Gold Mine、Aikawa-Tsurushi Gold and Silber Mine
- Place
- Sado City, Niigata Prefecture
- Tentative List Submission
- Tentative List Submitted: 2010
- Municipality
- World Heritage Inscription Promotion Office, Cultural Resources Administration Division, Niigata Prefectural Board of Education
- Municipality Website
- https://www.sado-goldmine.jp/eng/
(Niigata Prefecture)
Explanation
“Sado Island Gold Mines” bears exceptional testimony to traditional gold mining complex that in the early 17th century ranked as the leading gold producer in the world. Large scale production of high-purity gold was sustained from the 16th to the 19th century through continuous improvement of traditional unmechanized mining technology, without the introduction of modern mechanized devices common in central European mines.