Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 26

1,800 Volunteers Pull 360-Tonne Hirosaki Castle Keep 6 Feet for Earthquake Repairs

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 26

1,800 Volunteers Pull 360-Tonne Hirosaki Castle Keep 6 Feet for Earthquake Repairs

Q: Why did officials use thousands of volunteers to move the castle just 5 meters before switching to modern machinery?

Officials used volunteers for the first five meters because that phase was meant to be symbolic, educational and community-based, not the most efficient way to complete the move. Hirosaki City said the public pull was designed to let people “experience history physically” by taking part in the traditional hikiya method, an old Japanese technique for moving buildings intact on rollers or rails. That was especially meaningful because Hirosaki Castle is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property and one of only 12 surviving original castle keeps in Japan. The project also revived a rare, citizen-driven use of hikiya that officials said had not been used to move a castle in about a century. The strong public response showed the event had value beyond logistics. About 8,000 people applied for 1,800 places, with participants coming from across Japan and overseas. Officials framed the effort as a way to connect people directly to the castle’s preservation and pass its history to future generations. But the manual phase was always limited. Volunteers were expected to move the 360-ton keep only a little over five meters, while machinery would handle the remaining roughly 73 meters later in the year. That reflects the practical reality: hand-pulling is slow and ceremonial, whereas heavy equipment is faster, more precise and better suited to finishing a long, technically demanding relocation on schedule, especially before further preservation work begins.

Q: With the 360-ton castle keep successfully relocated, why will visitors have to wait until 2033 for the site to fully reopen?

Visitors will have to wait until 2033 because moving the 360-ton keep back onto its original base is only one stage of a much longer preservation project. Once the keep is fully returned to the restored stone foundation, officials still have to carry out major work on the structure itself, including preservation repairs, structural reinforcement and additional restoration to features such as the roof and exterior. City officials have said the keep will then be covered during this phase, which means it will not be accessible to the public for several more years. The relocation by volunteers in August is largely symbolic and community-driven, covering only part of the journey. Machinery is expected to complete the remaining distance later in 2026, and only after the keep is securely reinstalled can the next round of conservation begin. Because Hirosaki Castle is one of Japan’s 12 surviving original castle keeps and a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, authorities are proceeding slowly and carefully rather than rushing the reopening. That extended timetable is why the full reopening of the site is not expected until 2033.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 26

1,800 volunteers spent the weekend hauling Hirosaki Castle’s 360-tonne keep more than 6 feet back toward its original position in Aomori Prefecture.
The move became possible after workers rebuilt an earthquake-damaged wall and returned all 2,185 stones to their original places.
Rotating teams used hikiya—an old Japanese method that shifts intact buildings on rollers or rails—to protect the historic structure during the relocation.
About 8,000 people applied for 1,800 slots, and hand-pulling will continue through the end of August with roughly 4,100 participants moving the keep more than 16 feet in total.
The current three-story keep dates to 1811 after an earlier five-story tower was lost to lightning in 1627; many Japanese castles were later dismantled or destroyed.