muran.

1876 W. E. Griffis Mikado's Empire I. xxiv. 236 There are hundreds of mura, or villages, in Japan, called Nakamura (naka, middle; mura, village), for the same reason that there are many Middletowns in English-speaking countries.

a1889 D. B. Simmons Notes on Land Tenure Old Japan (1891) iii. 95 The chief feature in the arrangement of the mura was this gonin-gumi system.

a1889 D. B. Simmons Notes on Land Tenure Old Japan (1891) iii. 97 If..any member persistently failed to conduct himself properly, he could be reported by his fellow-members to the mura officials.

1922 J. W. R. Scott Found. Japan xxx. 262 The village..is joined administratively to another village,..in order to form a mura (commune).

1959 R. K. Beardsley et al. Village Japan 4 Outside the cities and towns, all of Japan is divided into mura: units of territory fitting border to border to furnish a blanket of government over the entire country, including hills and open fields as well as settlements.

1970 J. W. Hall Japan from Prehist. to Mod. Times vii. 130 Village units, called mura, were encouraged to develop their own organs of self-government.

1998 Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 6 Oct. The mura mentality has given Japanese a sense of belonging, trust, and order.

2002 Daily Yomiuri 20 Sept. 17/4 Foreigners are changing Japan's mura (village)-like society. If 10 naturalized former foreigners enter national politics, Japan is certain to go through major changes.