What is "yagura"

n. (context sumo English) a high wooden tower in front of a sumo arena from which a yobidashi beats the taiko drum each day before and after each tournament

is the Japanese word for: "tower", "turret", "keep", "scaffold". The word is most often seen in reference to structures within Japanese castle compounds, but can be used in a variety of other situations as well. The bandstand tower erected for Bon Festival is often called a yagura, as are similar structures used in other festivals. Yagura-daiko, that is, taiko drumming from atop a yagura is a traditional part of professional sumo competitions.

There were signs that the first written form of kanji was (櫓) during ancient periods, just simply being a character representing a tower before being changed to (矢倉)—in which the former replaced the latter once again. The term originally derives from the use of fortress towers as high/tall or arrow (矢, ya) storehouses (倉, kura), and was thus originally written as 矢倉. The term was used for a collection of towers. Today, modern towers such as skyscrapers or communications towers are almost exclusively referred to or named using the English-derived word tawā (タワー), and not yagura.

are artificial caves used during the Middle Ages in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as tombs and cenotaphs. It is likely that they were used only as tombs in the beginning, and were later used as cenotaphs. The dead are mostly from the samurai class, but the names of priests and artisans have also been found. These tombs are extremely numerous in the hills surrounding Kamakura, and estimates of their number range from 1,500 to over 5,000. The total number will remain unknown, as many have been destroyed and others may not yet have been found.

Yagura can be found either isolated, as in the case of the Harakiri Yagura, or in clusters of almost 200 caves. Groups of yagura are labeled with the suffix . The most conveniently seen yagura for most tourists are those at Jufuku-ji, near Kamakura station. Its cemetery has many yagura, including those with the cenotaphs of Hōjō Masako and Minamoto no Sanetomo.

True yagura can be found also in the Miura Peninsula, in the Izu Peninsula, and as far away as Awa Province (Chiba).

Yagura or Fortress (矢倉 yagura) is both a Static Rook opening (矢倉戦法 yagura senpō) and a castle in shogi.

It is often played in a Double Static Rook opening, which is often a Double Yagura opening (相矢倉 aiyagura).

The Yagura castle (矢倉囲い yagura gakoi) is considered by many to be one of the strongest defensive position in shogi.

The term yagura is the Japanese word for a tower-like structure in traditional Japanese castles.