After the middle of the Edo period, the exploitation quantity began to decrease. However, the output returned to the highest level ever of 400 kg per year thanks to the introduction of advanced excavation technology in the Meiji era. In 1989, Sado Gold Mine closed. In nearly 400 years of mining history, it has produced 78 tons of gold and 2,300 tons of silver. After the Abolition of the "han" system, the Japanese government established Sado Prefecture on Sado Island (later renamed as Aikawa Prefecture). In 1876, Aikawa Prefecture was incorporated into Niigata Prefecture. In 2004, 10 cities, towns and villages on Sado Island merged into Sado City. In 1960, Sado Island had a population of 113,296 people. Due to the inconvenience of living on the outlying islands and lack of jobs, Sado Island has been experiencing a population decline for a long term. In October 2017, the population of Sado Island was 55,212. The total fertility rate of Sado Island is about 1.9, which is much higher than the average of Japan and Niigata Prefecture. However, the continuous outflow of population results in the persistent decrease of population. Since Sado Island is an important trading base on the Nishimawari naval route from the coast of the Japan Sea to Osaka, the culture is strongly influenced by West Japanese culture like Kinki and Hokuriku. Also, intellectuals and politicians exiled from Kyoto to Sado brought the traditional performance culture of Kyoto, thus the traditional art of Sado Island began to thrive. The Noh Master Zeami Motokiyo was exiled to Sado, resulting the particular development of Noh culture in Sado. In the Edo period, there were more than 200 Noh stages. Sado still has more than 30 Noh stages, and the number of Noh stages per capita ranks first in Japan. There are also local performing arts such as ‘Ghost Taiko’ on Sado Island.