A 400-Ton Japanese Castle Is Moving (Again)! See Hirosaki Castle’s Historic Return in August 2026

Wait, why is Hirosaki Castle moving?

(Photo: Hirosaki City)

This story actually began more than a decade ago.

Hirosaki Castle stands in what is now Hirosaki Park, and its current keep dates to 1810. It is one of just 12 surviving original castle keeps in Japan, and together with several gates and corner turrets, is designated an Important Cultural Property.

The problem was underneath it.

After the 1983 Sea of Japan earthquake, surveys detected increasing bulging in the stone walls on the eastern side of the castle’s Honmaru enclosure. Concerned that the walls could eventually collapse, Hirosaki City decided to dismantle, repair, and rebuild them.

There was just one rather large obstacle sitting on top: the castle keep.

So in 2015, engineers placed the entire building on a system of rails and rollers and moved it approximately 77.62 meters toward the center of the enclosure. The stone walls were then painstakingly dismantled and reconstructed, stone by st

Now that the stonework has been restored, it is finally time to send the keep home.

And yes, they really move the whole castle

No disassembly. No rebuilding a replica somewhere else.

The actual historic keep is moved as a single structure using rails, rollers, and hydraulic jacks.

During an earlier stage of the 2026 return operation, three hydraulic jacks pushed the keep roughly 30 centimeters at a time along five rows of rails supported by 20 rollers. In July alone, the structure was moved about 19 meters before being rotated roughly 25 degrees in preparation for the August event.

For perspective, Hirosaki City describes the keep as weighing roughly 400 tons, and taking around 1,000 people to move it. Suddenly moving apartments does not sound quite so stressful.

What’s happening at Hirosaki Castle through August 28?

The celebration kicked off on August 21 with an opening ceremony followed by projection mapping, illumination, a drone show, and fireworks. A festival on August 22–23 then filled Hirosaki Park with special activities connected to the castle project.

But there is still time to catch part of this unusual moment.

From August 24–28, visitors can see the return project up close and pose at a special photo spot that makes it look as though they are helping pull Hirosaki Castle themselves.

・August 25–26: Pre-selected participants take part in castle-pulling sessions from 9:30–11:30 AM; the simulated pulling photo spot is open from 12–5 PM
・August 27–28: Simulated castle-pulling photo spot open from 10 AM–5 PM

Applications for actually taking part in the pulling experience have already closed, so spontaneous visitors should aim for the public photo area instead. Activities may also be changed or suspended depending on weather and construction.

A castle restoration project more than a decade in the making

Bulging stone wall (Photo: Hirosaki City)

Moving the castle is only one chapter in a remarkably long restoration project.

After the keep was shifted away in 2015, workers began dismantling the bulging stone walls. Thousands of stones were removed, surveyed, and eventually returned to their positions as part of the reconstruction.

The rebuilt stone wall was completed in December 2024, with 2,185 stones ultimately reset. Work has since moved on to strengthening the castle keep’s foundations and returning the structure toward its historic locat

Further improvements around the Honmaru are planned for 2027, while preservation and seismic-strengthening work on the keep itself is expected to continue afterward.

In other words, this is not simply somebody dragging a castle across a park for fun. It is one highly visible stage in a huge preservation effort designed to keep Hirosaki Castle standing for generations to come.

One important thing to know before visiting

While visitors can see the castle exterior and watch the return project, the inside of Hirosaki Castle is currently closed.

The keep has been closed to interior visitors since November 2025 and is expected to remain closed during the ongoing return, seismic reinforcement, and preservation work, currently scheduled to continue through fiscal 2027.

There is, however, a temporary observation deck where visitors can see the exterior and follow the construction work. The city currently expects the castle exterior to remain visible until around fall 2028, after which it will be covered during the next stage of preservation.

So if watching a genuine Edo-period castle slowly roll across the landscape sounds like your kind of sightseeing, 2026 is a particularly interesting time to visit.