Tenshu (天守, 天主, 殿主, 殿守, also called tenshukaku, 天守閣) is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of tenshu include keep, main keep, or donjon.
Tenshu are characterized as typically timber-framed, having multiple stories, being seated on ishigaki (dry stone) foundations, and having individual floors delineated by surrounding tiled eaves. Further, tenshu are typically decorated with varying patterns of dormer gables (chidori-hafu), and are capped with hip-and-gabled roofs (irimoya-hafu) with shachihoko finials. Not all Japanese castles originally possessed tenshu (e.g. Sendai), many well-known castles have lost their tenshu (e.g. Nijō, Edo), many have had the tenshu rebuilt on multiple occasions (e.g. Nagoya, Osaka).
While both the term tenshu and the emergence of tenshu as a distinct architectural typology occurred in the 1560s and 1570s, the early relationship between the etymology and typology are not well understood.
Tenshu (天守, 天主, 殿主, 殿守, also called tenshukaku, 天守閣) is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the...
almost all Japanese castles from the Azuchi-Momoyama period onward, the tenshu (天守, main keep), the most prominent structure, was used as a storehouse...
listed as a National Treasure of Japan, and is one of the twelve surviving tenshu in Japan. It is surrounded by 4 buildings which have also been designated...
and decorations, flourishing town, and religious life. The keep, called tenshu (or tenshukaku), was a seven-storey building with six floors above ground...
is now a public park noted for its sakura. The castle's relatively small tenshu (castle keep) claims to be the oldest in the country, a claim which is challenged...
Prefectures. The tenshu of Inuyama Castle, one of only 12 pre-modern tenshu remaining in existence, has been determined to be the oldest remaining tenshu, dating...
divided internally by walls and corridors, and the tenshu is in the northwest corner. The original tenshu under the Gamō clan was a massive seven-story structure...
constructing a three-story tenshu connected to three corner yagura by corridors. This tenshu had the same shape as the current tenshu, but was black instead...
western half of the hill. The site of the Tsutsui tenshu became the main residence, and a new five-story tenshu was in the process of being constructed when...
formerly walled and separated by moats. It is unusual in that its Edo period tenshu and most of its outline remains intact. Noted historian and author Shiba...
The castle is one of twelve Japanese castles to still have its historical tenshu. Its has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1937. Uwajima...
since 1951. Hikone is one of only twelve castles in Japan with its original tenshu, and one of only five castles listed as a National Treasure. Hikone Castle...
Treasure in 1931. The reconstructed castle originally featured the main tower (tenshu) only, which is made primarily of reinforced concrete. Its five floors stand...
Spirit 1984 Little Shop of Horrors 1985 The Drunken Duke Napoleon Bonaparte Tenshu Story 1986 Adventure Youth Departure [citation needed] Stuntman Love Story...
almost all Japanese castles from the Azuchi-Momoyama period onward, the tenshu (天守, main keep), the most prominent structure, was used as a storehouse...
buildings except for the tenshu and a number of yagura were demolished. The castle grounds became a public park. In 1931, the tenshu was designed a "National...
other daimyo, while Ieyasu reaped all the benefits. The central donjon, or tenshu, burned in the 1657 Meireki fire. Today, the Imperial Palace stands on the...
Castle is one of only a dozen Japanese castles to have an original wooden 'tenshu' built before 1860. Marugame Castle is located on Kameyama hill at the center...
attached to the roof of the gate. The main keep or tower (known as the tenshu-dai (天守台)) was in the northern corner of the Honmaru ward. Kitahanebashi-mon...
in the Japanese government's attempts to modernize Japan. In 1986, the tenshu, or keep, of Fukuchiyama Castle was re-built following a spirited campaign...
foundations for the sho-tenshu (small donjon), the chū-tenshu (medium donjon), the dai-tenshu (large donjon), and the kanritsu-shiki tenshu-kuruwa (a kuruwa...
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