About 1,000 people in Japan joined forces on Sunday to help pull the roughly 400-ton keep of Hirosaki Castle back toward its original position, more than a decade after the historic structure was moved nearly 78 meters for repairs. Participants in Aomori Prefecture were divided into groups and used ropes to pull a cart carrying the castle keep, moving the massive structure 109 centimeters closer to its original location.

After repairs to Hirosaki Castle in Aomori prefecture, officials employed a technique known as hikiya to move the structure more than two metres

The Hirosaki Castle keep was moved in 2015 to allow repairs to its earthquake-damaged stone walls