• Located on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, the Sado Gold Mine was one of Japan's largest gold mines, operating from the Edo period through the Showa era.• The Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine, the main mine of the Sado Island Gold Mine, which has become a World Heritage Site, is now open to the public.• Visitors can see hand-dug tunnels from the Edo period as well as mechanically dug tunnels from the Meiji era onward.• The remains of hand-dug mines from the Edo period provide a good understanding of how gold and silver were mined at that time.• You can visit "Doyu no Warito," a former gold and silver mining site that looks like the mountaintop has been split in two.