Sado-no-Shima

Sado-no-Shima (佐度島) is one of the eight great islands in the land-creation mythology of the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE), identified with present-day Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. With an area of 854.81 square kilometers, it ranks second among Japan's islands outside the four main islands and the Northern Territories. The island has served as a node of Japan Sea passage, a place of exile, and a gold-mining center across its long cultural history. According to the Kojiki upper scroll on land-creation, Izanagi and Izanami produced Sado-no-Shima as the seventh of the eight great islands (order varies in alternate traditions). The Nihon Shoki writes the name as Sado-no-Shima. No independent deity name accompanies the island, which is listed simply as one of the offspring islands. Within the island are nine Engishiki-listed shrines including Watatsu Shrine (Sado Province ichinomiya).