Yagura (tower)

Yagura (櫓, 矢倉[1]) is the Japanese word for "tower", "turret", "keep", or "scaffold".

[3] Yagura-daiko (taiko drumming from atop a yagura) is a traditional part of professional sumo competitions.

[4] There were signs that the first written form of kanji was 櫓 during ancient periods, simply being a character representing a tower before being changed to 矢倉 – in which the former replaced the latter once again.

As castles served as the luxurious homes of Japan's feudal lords (the daimyō), it was not uncommon for a castle to have an astronomy tower or a tower that provided a good vantage point for enjoying the natural beauty of the scenery.

However, it is likely that guardtowers or watchtowers would have been kept, outside of larger castle compounds, at times and places throughout its history.