It seems hard to believe that people can physically move a building, let alone a castle, but that is exactly what happened in northern Japan over the weekend. To the rhythmic chants of “so-re, so-re,” about 1,800 people came together to pull the historic Hirosaki Castle, a 360-tonne keep (about 397 US tons), about 2.2 metres, or roughly seven feet, closer to its original foundation.
The Guardian highlighted that this community effort is part of an ongoing, years-long renovation project. The keep, which is a fortified tower, had to be carefully relocated so that experts could repair a wall damaged during a major earthquake. The renovation team moved the massive structure with a process called hikiya.
