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Those who come to Japan, usually enter Tokyo or Osaka. What they see is a dizzying maze of people, lights, and train lines. All is fine and dandy, but where is the Japan you imagined in your dreams? I know the place. The real Japan can be found on Sado island in Niigata prefecture.

Most Japanese think Sado is a desolate place with nothing to offer. Oh how wrong they are!

Sado has preserved all of what Japan truly is. It is the home of the musical group KODO, which performs all around the world the sounds of the taiko drums. Truly an experience not to be missed. The best time to see them, is during the Earth celebration in August. A three day festival that is a must if you are in Japan.

If you`re looking for beauty, there is no better place than the nortwest coast of the island. Stretching from Aikawa to Ono-gama, the scenery along the coast is filled with jagged cliffs and magical lava rock formations. The best place to start is at Tassha beach (Senkakuwan Bay). Here you can take glass-bottom boat roads, stroll along the beach and catch the best sunset on Sado, or stop by the newly opened KLUEN Gallery and Massage. Here you will find local photography and be able to get pampered by the sea.

Don`t let a trip to Japan go by without experiencing Sado island!

Interesting..I was curious about visiting Japan, but the price has kinda leered me away....Is all of Japan expensive or just Tokyo and other major cities?

When I went to Japan last year, it was expensive but not hopelessly so. Even in cities, you can find inexpensive food to eat.

When I got out in the countryside, I found little restaurants/Japanese pubs that were cheap and filling, but the problem with the countryside for me was that I don't speak Japanese. Most of the places we went had plastic noodles you could point to, but one place I remember just had words written on the blackboard. I just gave up and picked one randomly and fortunately, I enjoyed it.

I don't how the prices are with the dollar descending so badly. But the train passes were a good bargain for us and there are some bus passes in cities like Kyoto.

I found a lot of tips on how to save money on transportation on the (dare I say it) Frommers boards.

http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/index_en.html

It's supposed to be a great festival--always wanted to go but never been able to. But, I'm going to see them this summer on their tour of Japan and I'm all excited! Still, would love to go to Sado some day too.

Japan can be expensive, but you can also find a way to get around reasonably.

A trip to Sado would look something like this. From Tokyo you take the bullet train ($95) for 2 hours, or can take a bus ($50) for 5 hours. From there, you can either take a jet foil boat for ($65) for 45 minutes or a ferry ($20) for 2 1/2 hours. So, there are choices. I usually do the bullet train ferry combo for around $115, so $230 roundtrip.

Just as an example.