1,800 volunteers pull 360-tonne castle to its original place
More than a thousand people joined forces to haul, entirely by hand, a 360-tonne castle back to its original position in Japan.
TL;DR
- 1,800 volunteers manually hauled a 360-tonne section of Hirosaki Castle back to its original position in Japan.
- The relocation was necessary for repairs to a wall damaged by an earthquake.
- The 'hikiya' method, an ancient Japanese building-relocation technique, was used to preserve the castle's structure.
- The castle keep, a nationally designated important cultural property, was moved over two meters by hand on specially constructed rails.
- The manual pulling will continue until August, with further movement by machinery planned until 2026.
- Preservation work on the castle is ongoing, with an expected reopening to visitors in 2033.
- Hirosaki Castle's keep is one of only 12 remaining structures of its kind in Japan.