Entertainment24 August, 20262 min read
1,800 Volunteers Pull Hirosaki Castle Keep Back Using Ropes in Aomori Prefecture
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1,800 volunteers pulled the 360-tonne Hirosaki Castle keep back toward its original position. The operation moved the keep about 2 metres closer to its stone base.
7 outlets told this the same way.
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Ropes Move the Keep
About 1,800 volunteers in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, pulled a 360-tonne keep of Hirosaki Castle back toward its original stone base using ropes and a technique described as “hikiya.” The volunteers worked in rotating teams of 80 people, heaving on a 30-metre rope tied to the keep as the structure was moved more than a metre on Sunday. On Saturday, participants towed the building set on rails by 1.13m, while on Sunday it was shifted another 1.09m.
The project is scheduled to continue until the end of August, with about 4,100 people reportedly scheduled to move the structure by five metres. Kensuke Hayasaka, head of the parks and green spaces division at Hirosaki City, said the keep is a nationally designated important cultural property and that organizers didn’t take it apart.
Ceremony and Lottery
The opening ceremony of the Hirosaki Castle Main Keep Relocation Event “Hipparé! Kepparé! Hirosaki Castle,” held until August 28, drew Her Imperial Highness Princess Kazuko of Hitachi and Mr. Shin Tsugaru, the 15th head of the Tsugaru clan.
Kensuke Hayasaka told the Guardian that there were about 8,000 applications for the 1,800 slots over the last two days, roughly four times oversubscribed, so not everyone could participate.
Aomori officials said the volunteers were chosen from a lottery, and the New Daily reported that people from across Japan and overseas were selected.
One participant, Motoharu Nakata, 61, traveled from Hiroshima and told the Sankei Shimbun, “I pulled it 11 years ago too. It’s very moving to be able to participate again. There’s absolutely no other opportunity to pull a castle – it was fantastic,”
The New Daily said the keep was relocated 11 years ago so its foundations and stone walls could be repaired, and that the method known as “hikiya” was considered the best way to shift it.
What Comes Next
After the public rope-pulling phase, the remaining 73-metre shift is expected to be completed by machines by the end of the year, with the keep moved a total of 5m by about 4,100 people. A construction notice on Japan-guide.com states that from July to November 2026 the castle keep is being moved back to its original location, and that afterwards renovation and reinforcement works on the keep will continue until 2032 or 2033. The New Daily reported that the interior is expected to remain closed to the public, and it said the project will continue until the end of August with the rest of the distance completed by machines by the end of the year.
Town & Country said Princess Hanako of Hitachi attended the opening ceremony for the laborious process to move the main tower of the 400-year-old Hirosaki Castle back to where it originally stood. The Straits Times reported that by the end of 2026 the keep will be moved about 78m to where it was, after it was relocated 11 years ago to repair the stone walls that supported it.