Japanese city moves castle... Literally

Moving home is one of life's most stressful things. Moving castle? That's another matter altogether. Unless, of course, you're in Japan, where city officials have come up with a novel - and literal - solution.

Hirosaki Castle has been sitting in the city of the same name for the past 400 years. Built in 1611, the 400-ton building has been kept in good condition. The same cannot be said, though, of the stone wall underneath it, which is now in needed of reconstruction. The solution? Lift the castle up and move it down the road.

The idea is certainly novel, but it's actually not all that new, reports CBS, with "house-moving" becoming a growing trend in the USA, with an estimated 40,000 homes dismantled and reassembled in a different location ever year.

Fortunately for Hirosaki's city officials, the castle only has to move 230 feet away, meaning that the whole structure can be hiked up onto a dolly and rolled along. The building was slowly lifted two feet off the ground using hydraulic jacks in August, with the moving process moving at a speed of 10 metres a day. It is expected to be completed in October. Reconstruction of the wall will then take place next year, after which the castle will be returned to its original location.

Packing up all your belongings and heading to a new home? Stressful. Moving a four-century-old castle up and down the road? Simple.