noun
camera obscura
A darkened chamber or box with a small hole through which an image is projected onto a surface; the precursor to the modern camera.
暗箱の原理は写真機の基礎となった。
The principle of the camera obscura became the basis for the photographic camera.
noun
A device or system whose internal workings are hidden or not understood; often used in engineering or systems theory.
そのシステムは暗箱として扱われ、内部の動作は不明だ。
The system is treated as a black box, and its internal operation is unknown.
Compound of 暗 (an, 'dark') and 箱 (hako, 'box'), with rendaku voicing. The term is a direct translation of the Western concept 'camera obscura' and later extended to 'black box'.