About 1,800 people used ropes to haul a 360-ton castle tower in Japan back toward its original site, drawing attention for reviving hikiya, a traditional building-relocation method, instead of relying on heavy machinery.
The city of Hirosaki in Japan's Aomori Prefecture moved the main keep of Hirosaki Castle back toward its original location from the 22nd to the 23rd, Britain's Guardian reported on the 26th. The keep traveled 1.13 meters on the first day and 1.09 meters on the second, for a total of 2.22 meters.
The Hirosaki Castle keep is one of 12 original castle towers still standing in Japan. It originally rose five stories but now has only three after the upper floors were destroyed by a lightning strike. It weighs about 360 tons.
The keep was temporarily moved from its original site in 2015 so that its stone foundation could be repaired. The scale of that work led it to be called "the project of the century" in Japan at the time.
The stone foundation work had been scheduled for completion in 2023, but the timeline stretched out after additional weak points were found during repairs. The work finished this year, clearing the way for the keep to return to its original position.
This time, rather than dismantling the keep or moving it directly with heavy equipment, the city chose the hikiya method. Hikiya is a building-relocation technique handed down in Japan since ancient times, in which a structure is dragged into place with ropes.
The fact that the keep is designated an important national cultural property, and therefore cannot be taken apart, was also cited as a reason for choosing the traditional approach.
About 1,800 people took part. Participants formed teams of roughly 80, gripped 30-meter ropes and pulled the keep, which inched forward while resting on rails.
The call for participants drew about 8,000 applications, four times the number of spots available. "We received applications from many people not only from across Japan but also from overseas," said Hayasaka Kensuke, head of the Parks and Green Spaces Department at Hirosaki City.
The work will continue through the end of this month. The keep is to be moved another 5 meters by human power, with the remaining 70 meters or so to be towed using machinery.
