1,800 volunteers rope-pull a 360-tonne castle keep two metres across the ground in Japan

Around 1,800 volunteers in Aomori prefecture, Japan, pulled the 360-tonne Hirosaki Castle keep — built in 1810 — two metres using 30-metre ropes in rotating groups of 80. The technique, hikiya, relocates buildings intact. The keep was moved in 2015 to repair an earthquake-damaged stone wall, restored in December 2024. Machinery will cover the remaining 73 metres.