About 1,000 lottery-selected participants pulled Hirosaki Castle’s keep roughly 43 inches on the first day of its return to the original site in Aomori Prefecture.
The move restarts the final stage of a preservation project that shifted the 400-ton, 400-year-old tower about 256 feet in 2015 so workers could repair bulging stone walls and correct earthquake-related tilt.
Princess Hanako, 86, made a rare public appearance at the opening ceremony; born into the Tsugaru family that built and ruled the castle, she had a personal tie to the event.
Hirosaki Castle is one of only 12 surviving feudal-era castle towers in Japan and the only one in eastern Japan, with the keep expected to be fully returned by year-end after seismic reinforcement.