In 2015, an ancient Japanese castle was moved to repair a vital stone wall. With that repair finally completed, it needed to be moved back, so Japan recruited 1,800 people to essentially play tug-of-war with a castle.
According to The Guardian, the mission required volunteers to haul the 396-ton keep of Hirosaki Castle six feet back into its original position using a series of ropes, wheels, and a traditional Japanese technique called hikiya, where entire buildings are moved without being taken apart.
Rotating teams of about 80 people pulled the castle as they chanted “so-re, so-re,” which a quick Google search tells me means something like “that’s the way!” Or “just like that!”, which ultimately amounts to the phrase being the Japanese version of “heave, ho.”
Japan Just Had 1,800 People Pull a Castle Back Home
Organizers had an easy time finding volunteers: about 8,000 people applied for the 1,800 available slots, with volunteers coming from all over Japan and the world, including as far as Europe and North America. A few were there for the original move 11 years ago and apparently have a deep-rooted need to put something back where they found it.
The whole project was the first citizen-powered use of the hikiya method to move the Japanese castle in about a century.
The volunteers did all the moving themselves. They only moved it about five meters, and big, heavy machinery will handle the rest of its 73-meter journey.
The wall was finally restored in 2024, with all 2,185 stones returned to their original positions. Now the castle is going home, although volunteers are only responsible for moving it about five meters. Machinery will handle the remaining roughly 73 meters.
This will probably be the most visitors will get to see of the castle for a while, as it’s undergoing preservation work that will keep it closed until 2033.
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