Rustic Japan -A Guide to Rural Japan & Off-the-Beaten-Path Countryside- 日本語

Chubu & Hokuriku

Sado Island: Riding a Tub Boat

Niigata Prefecture

A man standing in a tub boat holding an oar on the shore at Shukunegi, Sado Island, with another tub boat on the cove
Where
Niigata Prefecture
When
July 2026, 3 days, 2 nights
Route
Tokyo Station → (JR Shinkansen Toki, 2 hours) → Niigata Station → (taxi, 10 min) → Niigata Port → (Sado Kisen ferry, 2 hours 30 min) → Sado Island → rental car
Cost
¥60,000

Today I ride a tarai-bune, a tub boat, the thing Sado Island is best known for.

Tub boats are also called hangiri. Apparently that’s because the tub is a barrel cut in half (hangiri roughly means “half-cut”).

A boatwoman in a headscarf sculls a tub boat carrying a passenger in a life vest across a calm inlet at Shukunegi, Sado Island

I wobble my way aboard. Surprisingly, it doesn’t sink.

A passenger in a life jacket is helped by staff from the stone quay into a wooden tub boat at Shukunegi, Sado Island

A local man moves the boat along, swinging the oar from side to side.

Can this thing really get anywhere? I wondered. …It does. Quite well, actually. (Ha.)

A tub boat in a cove at Shukunegi, Sado Island, steered by a standing boatman with one oar, carrying two passengers in life vests

Forward and to the left, forward and to the right, forward and to the left, over and over.

Calm cove between rugged rocks at Shukunegi, Sado Island, with small tub boats out near the open sea

Before I knew it, we’d left the inlet and were out on the sea. The boat doesn’t seem to handle ocean waves well; it felt like it could capsize at any moment. Thank you, life jacket, for the peace of mind.

Three tub boats with passengers in orange life jackets on a calm inlet ringed by dark rocks, Sado Island

Because they can turn in tight spaces, tub boats were apparently prized for fishing in the inlets.

At certain times of year, you can ride a tub boat at night, too. Firewood fires glow along the shore, a sky full of stars spreads overhead, and the boat creaks its way forward. For a little while, it’s like going back 100 years.

A wood-fire brazier burning on the shore at night, its flames reflected on dark water at Sado Island

Bonfires in iron baskets along the shore at night, their light reflected on dark water

Once I’m off the tub boat, I take a walk through the town of Shukunegi.

To be continued