トーチカ

точка (tochka) is the Russian source form behind トーチカ, and its ordinary meaning is point or dot. Kotobank's Digital Daijisen labels トーチカ as Russian tochka and defines it as a small concrete defensive position with machine guns or artillery. Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten gives a 1938 example from Ishikawa Tatsuzo's 生きてゐる兵隊. The Japanese borrowing belongs to modern military vocabulary, especially the 1930s context of Soviet defenses along the Manchurian border. Nipponica explains that Soviet forces built reinforced-concrete firing positions against Japanese invasion, and the Japanese army called them 特種陣地. The meaning shifted from a point on a map to a firing point, then to the concrete position itself. Related terms are 特火点, 陣地, バンカー, and ピルボックス. Modern Japanese uses トーチカ in war history, battlefield remains, games, and sometimes Go, where it names a corner pattern. English bunker is more general, while Japanese トーチカ often suggests a compact concrete pillbox with weapons. Russian точка still means point in daily speech, so the Japanese word is much narrower. Example: 丘の上にトーチカが残る.