noun
unit of land area (approx. one-tenth hectare)
Historical Japanese unit of land area, roughly 991.7 m². Used in agricultural and land records, now largely replaced by metric units.
昔の農地の広さは反歩で表されていた。
In the past, the size of farmland was expressed in tanbu.
この地域では一反歩あたりの収穫量が記録されている。
In this region, the yield per tanbu is recorded.
Compound of 反 (tan, a traditional land-area unit) and 歩 (bu, a unit of length/area). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term has been used in Japanese land measurement for centuries.