Sado Gokko special version

Time Slip Back to the Edo period and experience the Sado Gold Mine Picture Scroll! and Making Rice ball at Sado’s Married Couple Rocks Known for Matchmaking.

*This experience is a special product for a limited time using subsidies. (May 22, 2023 to February 29, 2024)
Even within the period, if the upper limit of the subsidy budget is reached, it may be canceled.

Sado Gokko special version

Fee : 2,600 yen (same price for adults and children)
Niigata welcome campaige!! ¥2,500 OFF
☆ Limited to Overseas tourists About half price in the campaign.
☆ Discounts are available for overseas tourists who use the website to reserve experiences.
☆ Identification such as Alien Registration Certificate must be shown on arrival.
* Passport or Resident’s Card

The Sado Gokko special version is an experience that combines Horiko Gokko(Time Slip Back to the Edo period and experience the Sado Gold Mine Picture Scroll!) and Omusubi Gokko(Making Rice ball at Sado’s Married Couple Rocks Known for Matchmaking).

Reservation form for Sado Gokko special version

What does the “Gokko” in “Sado Gokko” mean?

“Gokko” usually means something like “play” in Japanese (like hide-and-seek), but in this case, “Gokko” means to learn and to rediscover! “Sado Gokko” is an activity where you can get a hands-on experience through acting out, absorbing, and reproducing new things you’ve learned.

There are two rules to “Sado Gokko!”
RuleI. Enjoy Sado Island safely!
Rule II. Try using one word or phrase from Sado dialect and speaking with a Sado native!
The Sado dialect we recommend is… “de-ka-shi-ma-shi-ta.”
“Dekashimashita” means arigato – thank you – in Sado language!

Try it out on Sado Island.

Sado Gokko aims to be a sustainable activity that can be enjoyed by both foreign visitors to Japan and the hearing impaired.

Experience Overview

Sado Gokko special version Experience Overview

*On the day of the event, we will provide a QR code for a multilingual website for the program, so we recommend you bring your own device such as a smartphone with internet connection. Multilingual resources and support material for those with disabilities are available, such as subtitled images. We’ll be incorporating the experience with this online content.

    • Ages : 8 years old and up
    • Length of time : Approximately 3 hours 30 minutes, including lunch
    • Start time : 12:00~
      timetable
      1) 12:00~13:00(Lunch for program participants only)
      2) 13:00~14:00(Experience the Horiko Gokko)
      3) 14:00~14:20(Intermission)
      4) 14:20~15:20(Experience the Omusubi Gokko)
    • Reservations : 3 days in advance, by 16:00
      Email: Reservation form for Sado Gokko special version
  • Minimum Participants : Two people
  • Maximum Capacity : 20 People
  • Fee  : 2,600 yen(same price for adults and children)
    *Identification such as Alien Registration Certificate must be shown on arrival.(Passport or Resident’s Card)
  • Fee includes : Experience fee, lunch, waraji (free size), certificate, kaiyun ore, white rice for rice balls, salt,bamboo bark,souvenir salt,consumption tax.
  • Meeting place : Meotoiwa Kanko (1267-5 Takase, Sado City, Niigata Prefecture)
  • Other
    ・The used waraji will be given away as souvenirs.
    ・[Horiko Gokko] Reproduction of a tunnel from those days, and are made to be narrow and difficult to walk through. Please wear comfortable clothes (pants, etc.).
    ・[Omusubi Gokko] Soot may adhere to the salt factory during the tour and work experience. Please be careful not to burn yourself.
    ・Some days may be fully booked due to group tours.
    Please check the calendar for available dates.
    ・I can’t speak foreign languages such as English very well. Therefore, we use the translation function of the iPad to communicate.

Sado Gokko special version acceptance calendar

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Experience Flow

Sado Gokko special version Experience Flow
  • 3 days ago
    Reservations
    Reservation deadline is 5:00 p.m. 3 days prior to the experience date.Reservation by E-mail only.
    Reservation form for Sado Gokko special version
  • On the day Step1
    What to wear for the experience
    Horiko Gokko is We will recreate the tunnels of the time and walk through difficult and narrow areas.
    It is made to be difficult to walk on purpose. Please come in clothes that are easy to move in, such as trousers.
    Omusubi Gokko is Soot may adhere to the salt factory during the tour and work experience. Please be careful not to burn yourself.
  • On the day Step2
    What to bring
    Smartphones are convenient to have.
    It is an indispensable item for hearing-impaired people and foreign visitors to Japan who are not proficient in Japanese.You can confirm in writing what you will experience. Our staff who will guide you will also use it as a cheat sheet.
  • On the day Step3
    reception(desk)
    Reception is possible from 60 minutes before the reservation time.
    Please allow plenty of time for your visit. Please inform the store staff of your visit when you arrive.
    *Identification such as Alien Registration Certificate must be shown on arrival.(Passport or Resident’s Card)
  • On the day Step4
    Payment
    Please pay the experience fee at the reception desk. Various coupons are also available.(Please contact the staff for details)
    You can also use QR code payment (PayPay only) and various credit cards for payment.
    (VISA、MasterCard、JCB、AMEX、Diners、DISCOVER、銀嶺)
  • On the day Step5
    explanation
    We will inform you of the QR code of the experience-only website that has undergone multilingual processing so that you can understand and check the contents of the experience in text and the password for WiFi connection.
    You will be asked to download a dedicated page for the experience on your smartphone or other device.
    (Download is not required)
  • On the day 12:00~
    Taste the specialty “Gen-san Don.”
    Only available for this program’s participants, this rice bowl is inspired by the tunnel carpenter depicted on the picture scroll, Genshiro.
    “Gen-san Don”
    A) Sado wild yellowtail cutlet served over rice
        The cutlets represent the gold mine open-cut.

    B) Takuan (pickled daikon radish)
         while the takuan represents koban coins.

    C) Squid Sashimi
    D) Sliced Nori
    E) Gold Leaf
        The white squid represents white quartz, while the black nori and gold leaf represent gold veins.

    F) Nagamo (Seaweed)
       *to be poured over the squid sashimiG) Sado Wakame H) Soy sauce  I) Wasabi
  • On the day 13:00~
    To the Horiko Gokko experience area
    TWe will guide you to the venue when all the participants are ready.
  • Horiko Gokko 1
    Guidance
    To start off, we’ll take a look at the picture scroll and learn more about it how miners carried gold and silver ores out of the mine.
    The Sado Gold and Silver Mine Picture Scroll
  • Horiko Gokko 2
    Challenge the athletics
    Wearing waraji (straw sandals) and carrying a kamasu(cloth bag), which weighs the same as a gold ore, visitors will challenge themselves in an athletic activity that simulates a mine shaft.
    hashigo
  • Horiko Gokko 3
    Cosplay shoot
    We will provide kimono and chonmage costumes and help you press the button to take pictures.

    Item

    A. kimono
    B. Waraji
    C. Kamasu (Bag)
    D. topknot (vinyl )
    E. Shisoku-tate (Paper Candle Holder)
    F. Shisoku-Donsu(Thinly shaved wood soaked in oil)
    JK HANA
    JK HANA

    3 old kimonos, 1 pair of woven camas with rope and 1 pair of wig with a 100-yen hairpiece.
    We will help you press the button to take a picture with your own smartphone or other device.

  • Horiko Gokko 4
    Lucky ore souvenirs
    If you complete all the missions, you will receive a Horiko Certificate and a lucky ore souvenir.

  • On the day 14:00~
    Intermission
  • On the day 14:20~
    To the Omusubi Gokko experience area
    We will guide you to the venue when all the participants are ready.
  • Omusubi Gokko 1
    Cook the Rice

    ごはん炊きIgnite the pot for one person and start to cook the special brand Sado Rice
  • Omusubi Gokko 2
    Prepare Bamboo Peels for Wrapping
    We have bamboo peels about 60cm long and 12cm wide for wrapping our omusubi.
    Tear off about 5mm of both ends of the bamboo bark to make two long, thin pieces of string.
    Bamboo peelsFold the wide bamboo peels in three and set aside.
  • Omusubi Gokko 3
    Let’s make some Salt in our Salt Factory!

    Salt factory

    We have 30 minutes until the rice is done cookng! Use the time to go to the salt factory and get an item specially made for onigiri called “anyshio.” The sea of Sado island is where cold and warm currents meet. Salt made in the factory is handmade by collecting seawater from the area near the Meoto Iwa rocks and boiling it down for about 15 hours. We also collect turban shells and abalone on these shores.

    It takes a lot of time and effort to make the salt, so the salt workshop workers will not give it to you easily. Please help the salt workers to get “Anyshio”.(Two people can get one bag of Anyshio.)Anyshio

    *The salt workshop be depending on the weather, you may not be able to fetch seawater or chop wood.

  • Omusubi Gokko 4
    Making Shio Musubi (Salt Rice balls)

    Use the plastic gloves. Wear inflammable gloves over top of the plastic gloves Open the lid to your rice Enjoy the freshly-cooked aromas.

    Transfer the rice from your pot into the tarai.

    Take off the inflammable gloves and mix the “anyshio” special salt you got from the salt factory into the cooked rice. Usually salt for making onigiri is added only to coat the surface of the rice ball, but this anyshio tastes much better when mixed in!

    *Taste the rice and adjust the amount of salt accordingly. The saltiness of the rice will decrease as it cools down, so a slightly stronger taste is recommended.

    Separate the rice into two portions. We each get to make two rice balls.
    Place a piece of plastic wrap over a rice bowl, put in enough rice for one ball, wrap in plastic wrap

  • Omusubi Gokko 5
    Wrapping

    We are going to wrap our onigiri the way they did in the olden days. Spread out your folded bamboo strips and wrap the two onigiri up.
    2. Using a piece of bamboo bark string, tie it into a boy knot so that it faces vertically. Your wrapping is complete!

    Sado Koshihikari rice tastes best after it has cooled down. Enjoy it outdoors with a nice view!
    (Please consume as soon as possible.)

  • Omusubi Gokko 6
    Knotting strengthen the bond

    Tie one of the remaining bamboo bark strings to the frame at the outdoor enmusubi-basho (match-making) site, while thinking of the match you wish to make.

    As the folklore goes, it is said that when the bamboo cord is naturally untied by the power of the rocks, your dreams of an ideal mate will be fulfilled!

    Finally, we will help you take some photos with your smartphone, camera or other device of the Meoto Iwa rocks in the background. This concludes the program.

Reservation form for Sado Gokko special version

Click here for details of the Experience!

Click Here For More Info on Horiko Gokko!

Click Here For More Info on Omusubi Gokko!
Looking for love? Making Rice ball at Sado’s Married Couple Rocks Known for Matchmaking