noun:

• China ［ちゅうごく］ ➜ 中華人民共和国
• Chūgoku region of western Honshu (incl. Okayama, Hiroshima, Shimane, Tottori and Yamaguchi prefectures) ［ちゅうごく］ - abbreviation ➜ 中国地方
• central part of a country; main region ［ちゅうごく］
• province of the second lowest rank (ritsuryo system)

noun:

• the whole country; the public; the world; the ruling power; having one's own way

noun:

• opening section of a Chinese poem or essay (in which the topic is broached); broaching the topic of a poem or essay in its opening lines

noun:

• the people; the masses; the public; the great unwashed

noun:

• driving on the right-hand side; driving on the right side of the road ➜ 左側通行

noun:

• law (esp. ancient East Asian criminal code); regulation
• vinaya (rules for the monastic community) - Buddhism term
• Ritsu (school of Buddhism) - abbreviation ➜ 律宗
• lushi (style of Chinese poem) - abbreviation ➜ 律詩
• (musical) pitch - also りち
• six odd-numbered notes of the ancient chromatic scale ➜ 十二律・呂
• Japanese seven-tone gagaku scale, similar to Dorian mode (corresponding to: re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) - abbreviation ➜ 律旋

noun / suffix noun / counter:

• (in traditional Eastern music) step (corresponding to a Western semitone)

noun:

• first letter of a word; capital letter (at the start of a word or sentence)
• initials (of one's name)

noun:

• sculpin (any fish of family Cottidae, incl. the bullheads and the miller's-thumb)
• Japanese fluvial sculpin (Cottus pollux)

noun:

• texture; "grain" of a fabric or cloth; direction of the loom or weave in a roll of fabric

~する verb (spec.):

• to be on the verge of; to be about to; to be on the point of

noun:

• gallery (of a theatre)
• audience (at a theatre); the masses; the general public

noun:

• the highest state of one's enlightenment; the highest level one can attain - four character idiom

noun:

• Failure to think of the long term leads to grief in the short term - four character idiom

noun:

• the palace sanctuary, shrine of imperial ancestors and temple inside the Japanese imperial palace

noun:

• mass culture; pop culture; popular culture; culture of the people (as opposed to the elite)

noun:

• vitreous body (of the eye); vitreous humor; vitreous humour; the vitreous - Anatomy term

expression / godan ~く verb:

• to take the easy way out; to take the path of least resistance

noun:

• New Year (esp. first three days) - polite language ➜ 正月
• the first month of the year; January - polite language ➜ 正月

noun:

• word created by retaining the first syllable (or two) of a word and suffixing it with the word "moji" ➜ 女房詞

expression / ~の noun:

• the way it was; the way it used be; as of old; in former times

noun:

• the five night watches; fifth watch of the night (approx. 3 am to 5 am)

noun:

• any turtle of the genus Mauremys (esp. the Japanese pond turtle, Mauremys japonica)

noun:

• government and people; those in and out of the court or government; the entire nation

expression:

• from the best to the worst; from top to bottom; of every kind; all sorts

noun / adjectival noun:

• knowing how to get on in the world; knowing the secret of success in life - four character idiom