What does 土壇場 mean?
土壇場 is a Japanese noun meaning “last moment; eleventh hour” in English. It can also be translated as “platform made of dirt used to perform executions (decapitations) in the Edo period” depending on context. It is written as 土壇場 in kanji, どたんば in hiragana, and dotanba in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N2 vocabulary.
Example sentence
これは彼の土壇場だ。
This is his eleventh hour.