village · distance unit

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The on reading is り, and the kun reading is さと. It has 7 strokes. It appears in words for villages, hometowns, and great distances.
• Basic usage: 里 is read さと, and 千里 is read せんり.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 里 / 千里
  • 里 means village or hometown and is read さと. It refers to an inhabited village or a hometown to which someone returns.
  • 祭りの日には、離れて暮らす人々も里へ帰ってくる。 means “On festival day, even people living far away return to their home village.”
  • 千里 means a great distance or a thousand traditional distance units and is read せんり. It refers to a thousand traditional distance units or, more broadly, a great distance.
  • 旅人は千里にも及ぶ道のりを歩き続けた。 means “The traveler continued along a journey spanning a great distance.”