Japan: 1,800 Volunteers Hand-Pull 360-Tonne Historic Hirosaki Castle Turret

In a rare and remarkable scene in northern Japan, around 1,800 volunteers took part in a major preservation project, hand-pulling the 360-tonne turret of Hirosaki Castle — built in 1611 — more than two metres across the ground. Teams took turns pulling 30-metre ropes attached to the turret, moving it 1.13 metres on Saturday and a further 1.09 metres on Sunday.
The turret, the castle’s main keep, was relocated from its original site in 2015 to allow repairs to the castle wall, which had been damaged by a major earthquake. Authorities used the traditional Japanese technique known as “hikiya,” in which entire structures are moved intact on rollers rather than demolished. The wall has since been fully repaired, with all 2,185 stones restored to their original positions.
According to Kensuke Hiasaka, head of Hirosaki’s parks division, roughly 8,000 applications were received for just 1,800 spots — nearly four times the available places — with applicants coming from across Japan as well as Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. This month, around 4,100 people will help move the turret a total of five metres by hand, while machinery will cover the remaining 73 metres.
Hirosaki Castle is one of only 12 surviving original castle turrets in Japan and is designated a nationally important cultural property. It is the only castle from the Edo period (1603–1867) still standing today, and was named among Japan’s top 100 castles by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.