Keywords
Architecture
Castles
A vertical dry moat. Also read tatsubori; sometimes written 立堀, 竪濠. A dry moat *karabori 空堀 built vertically up a gently-sloping mountainside to protect a medieval mountain castle *yamajiro 山城. The tatebori prevented attacking forces moving horizontally across the mountain. One wall of the moat was steep and the opposite wall gentle, making it difficult to climb. The enemy caught in the tatebori was sometimes catapulted with stones. Compare with *yokobori 横堀.