kare ha kazoku no meiyo wo mamotta.

は marks 彼 as the topic of the sentence.

So 彼は means something like:

• as for him
• he (as the topic of what follows)

In natural English, we usually just translate it as he, but は does not work exactly like an English subject marker. It sets up what the sentence is about.

In this sentence:

• 彼は = As for him / He
• 家族の名誉を守った = protected his family's honor

Also, even though は is a topic marker, 彼 is also effectively the doer of the action here.

Literally, it means the family's honor or honor of the family.

Breakdown:

• 家族 = family
• の = linking particle, often like of or an apostrophe-s
• 名誉 = honor, reputation, prestige

So:

• 家族の名誉 = family's honor
• more literally: the honor of the family

Here, の connects the two nouns and shows that 名誉 belongs to or is associated with 家族.

の is used to connect nouns.

In this sentence, it shows a relationship between:

• 家族 = family
• 名誉 = honor

So 家族の名誉 means:

• the family's honor
• the honor of the family

This is one of the most common uses of の.

Some similar examples:

• 日本の文化 = Japan's culture / the culture of Japan
• 先生の本 = the teacher's book
• 友達の車 = friend's car

So here, の works very much like English 's or of.

を marks the direct object of the verb.

The verb here is 守った (protected), and the thing being protected is 名誉 (honor).

So:

• 名誉を守った = protected honor
• more naturally: protected the family's honor

You can think of を as showing what the action is done to.

Structure:

• 彼は = he
• 家族の名誉を = the family's honor
• 守った = protected

The dictionary form is 守る.

• 守る = to protect, to defend, to keep, to observe
• 守った = protected / defended

This is the plain past form.

So:

• 守る = protect(s), will protect
• 守った = protected

守る is a godan verb, and its past form changes from -る to -った:

• 守る → 守った

Not always. 守る has a wider range of meanings depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• to protect
• to defend
• to keep
• to observe (as in following rules)

Examples:

• 約束を守る = keep a promise
• ルールを守る = follow/observe the rules
• 国を守る = defend the country

In 家族の名誉を守った, the most natural meaning is protected or defended.

It can be used, but in real Japanese, pronouns like 彼 are often omitted if the meaning is clear from context.

So while 彼は家族の名誉を守った。 is perfectly grammatical, in natural conversation or storytelling you might also see:

• 家族の名誉を守った。

if it is already obvious who did it.

Japanese often leaves out subjects and topics when they are understood.

Also, 彼 can sometimes sound a little more explicit or literary than simply omitting it.

Yes, that is often how English will understand it.

Japanese does not explicitly say his here. The sentence literally says:

• He protected the family's honor

But since 彼 is the topic and the context often implies the family is connected to him, English may naturally translate it as:

• He protected his family's honor

Whether it is specifically his family depends on context, not on a possessive word inside the Japanese sentence.

The basic order is:

topic + object + verb

So:

• 彼は = topic
• 家族の名誉を = object
• 守った = verb

Japanese verbs normally come at the end of the sentence.

That means the sentence is structured like:

• As for him, the family's honor, [he] protected.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is normal in Japanese.

It is a real and important word, but it is a bit more formal and serious than very basic everyday vocabulary.

名誉 means things like:

• honor
• reputation
• prestige

It often appears in contexts involving:

• family honor
• personal honor
• national honor
• formal dignity or reputation

So this sentence has a somewhat serious or dramatic tone.

Yes, but the nuance would change.

• 彼は家族の名誉を守った。
  = As for him, he protected the family's honor.
  This presents him as the topic.

• 彼が家族の名誉を守った。
  = He is the one who protected the family's honor.
  This puts more focus on who did it.

So:

• は = topic, broader statement
• が = stronger focus on the subject/doer

Both are possible, but they do not feel exactly the same.

Japanese does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So nouns like 家族 and 名誉 do not need separate words for that.

Whether English uses:

• a family
• the family
• family
• the family's honor

depends on context and natural translation.

In this sentence, English usually adds the because it sounds natural:

• He protected the family's honor.

But Japanese itself does not mark that directly.