About 2,000 Japanese residents and volunteers manually pulled the main keep of Hirosaki Castle back onto its foundation this week [4].
The effort allows the city to restore the castle's foundations without dismantling the historic structure, preserving its architectural integrity.
Located in Hirosaki city, Aomori Prefecture, the project utilized traditional rope-pulling techniques known as *hikiya*. The operation took place from Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, through Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2024 [3, 5].
Reports on the weight of the keep vary, with estimates ranging from 360 tonnes [2] to 400 tonnes [1]. The scale of the human effort also differs across reports; while some sources cite about 1,800 participants [3], others suggest the number reached as high as 4,000 people [6].
The process involved securing the massive structure with heavy ropes and coordinating the pull of the volunteers to shift the building a few meters. This manual method was chosen specifically to avoid the risks associated with modern machinery on the ancient site.
This event marks one of the most significant manual infrastructure projects in the region in over a century. By relying on community labor and ancestral methods, the project aimed to maintain the cultural spirit of the 17th-century site [2].
“Approximately 2,000 Japanese residents and volunteers manually pulled the main keep of Hirosaki Castle”
The use of hikiya techniques at Hirosaki Castle demonstrates a preference for cultural preservation over modern efficiency. By engaging thousands of local citizens in the physical labor of restoration, the project transforms a technical engineering necessity into a community event that reinforces local identity and the continuity of traditional Japanese craftsmanship.
