Residents Pull 400-Tonne Hirosaki Castle Keep 1.13 Metres

Residents selected by lottery pulled four ropes attached to Hirosaki Castle's approximately 400-tonne keep on August 22, moving it 113 centimetres toward its original stone base. Teams of about 80 people completed 13 pulls during the first day of the public hikiya event, which moves the intact building on rails rather than dismantling it. The return follows repairs to the castle wall that prompted the keep's relocation in 2015; public pulling sessions were scheduled through August 28.