Hirosaki Castle volunteers move 400-tonne tower

Hundreds of volunteers in northern Japan pulled ropes on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, to move Hirosaki Castle's 400-tonne tower back toward its original position.

The three-storey wooden tower was shifted 80 metres in 2015 so workers could repair the stone walls supporting it. Engineers moved it in one piece on metal rails to a temporary platform instead of dismantling it.

Since Saturday, groups of about 80 people have taken turns pulling the tower a few centimetres at a time. Local officials estimate that around 4,000 people, including some from overseas, have taken part and moved the structure nearly five metres.

The municipality plans to use heavy machinery in September to complete the move and aims to install the tower permanently in November. Further restoration work on the copper roof and facades is planned before a full reopening to the public in 2033.

Kensuke Hayasaka, head of the restoration project, said the public pulling effort was intended to let people experience history physically and help pass on Hirosaki's history to future generations.

The operation uses a traditional Japanese structure-moving technique known as "hikiya". According to Hayasaka, the tower was also moved by muscle power in the past after its stone foundations became unstable, before being returned to its original position in 1915.