1,800 People Help Pull a 400-Ton Japanese Castle Back to Its Original Site

Can you imagine trying to move a 400-ton castle tower by pulling on a rope? About 1,800 people in Japan recently did just that and moved the building more than seven feet over two days.

The unusual castle pull took place Aug. 22 and 23 at Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture. It was part of a decade-long project to repair the stone wall beneath the castle's keep.

Smithsonian Magazine reported that the castle's main tower, called a keep, moved about four feet on Saturday and another 3.5 feet on Sunday. The three-story wooden building stayed intact throughout the move.

More than 8,000 people applied for the 1,800 available spots. The selected participants came from across Japan and from as far away as Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

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To pull off this impressive move, groups of about 80 people took turns using nearly 100-foot ropes while the building sat on rails and rollers. The method is called hikiya, and it allows a building to be moved without taking it apart.

The Guardian reported that the keep's 2015 move was the first citizen-led hikiya and the first time the method had been used to move a castle in a century.

The hand-pulling is scheduled to continue through the end of August. Around 4,100 people will help move the keep a total of 16 feet before machinery handles the remaining 240 feet by the end of 2026.

The keep was moved approximately 256 feet away from its base in 2015. This allowed crews to repair a stone wall that had been damaged during an earthquake in 1983.

The wall was finished in December 2024, with all 2,185 stones returned to their original positions. Archaeological work also uncovered parts of older walls, a well, and drainage structures beneath the castle grounds.

Visitors Will Have to Wait To Go Inside Until 2033

Hirosaki Castle was completed in 1611, but its original five-story keep burned down after lightning struck it in 1627. Construction on the current three-story keep began in 1810. Today, it is one of only 12 surviving feudal-era castle towers in Japan. In fact, it is the only one remaining in the country's northeastern Tōhoku region.

Even after the keep returns to its original base later this year, visitors will not be able to go inside. It will be covered while additional preservation work is completed and is expected to reopen in 2033.

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