1.
castle tower; main keep; donjon
The tall, central tower of a Japanese castle, serving as the final defensive stronghold and the symbolic centerpiece of the fortification. Typically a multi-storied structure with distinctive curved rooflines, it was the most visually striking element of castle architecture during the Sengoku and Edo periods.
姫路城の天守は美しい。
The keep of Himeji Castle is beautiful.
天守の最上階からは城下町が一望できる。
You can see the entire castle town from the top floor of the keep.
この城の天守は戦後に鉄筋コンクリートで再建されたものだ。
This castle's keep was rebuilt with reinforced concrete after the war.
Also written as 天守閣, which adds the suffix 閣 ('tower; pavilion'). Both forms refer to the same structure, though 天守閣 is the more common form in everyday conversation and tourist contexts.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
- Castle keeps emerged during the late Muromachi and Sengoku periods (16th century) as military architecture evolved
- 織田信長's 安土城 (1579) is considered the first grand-scale 天守
- Only twelve original 天守 survive today; many others are reconstructions
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 天守閣: castle keep (with pavilion suffix; more common form)
- 天守に登る: to climb the castle keep
- 現存天守: surviving original keep
- 復元天守: reconstructed keep
- 天守台: keep foundation/platform
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 城: castle — the general word for a castle as a whole, including walls, moats, and grounds
- 櫓: turret; watchtower — smaller defensive towers positioned at corners or along castle walls
- 本丸: main bailey — the innermost fortified area of a castle where the keep stands