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Kensuke Hayasaka Leads 1,800 Volunteers in Moving the 360-Ton Hirosaki Castle Keep

Kensuke Hayasaka, head of the parks and green spaces division at Hirosaki City, oversaw a community effort where 1,800 volunteers moved the 360-ton keep of Hirosaki Castle closer to its original position. Using the traditional Japanese technique of hikiya, the structure was placed on rollers and pulled by rotating teams of 80 people using 30-meter ropes. This method allows the historic tower to be relocated without being dismantled, preserving its integrity as a nationally designated important cultural property. The move was necessary to facilitate repairs on a stone wall damaged by a 1983 earthquake. While the keep was moved 70 meters away in 2015 to allow for these repairs, it is now being returned to its original base. By the end of August, approximately 4,100 people are scheduled to participate in the manual pulling, with machinery taking over the remaining 73 meters of the journey. Although the keep will be returned to its original site this year, extensive preservation work will continue, and the structure is expected to reopen to the public in 2033.

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