1.
Russia
The country spanning eastern Europe and northern Asia, Japan's neighbor across the Sea of Japan, known for its severe winters, classic literature, and a long history of territorial disputes with Japan over the Northern Territories.
ロシア comes from the Portuguese "Rússia," one of the earliest routes by which the country's name entered Japanese.
Common collocations
Cultural note
ロシア is associated in Japan with severe winters, ウォッカ, classic novelists like トルストイ and ドストエフスキー, and the unresolved dispute over the 北方領土 (Northern Territories) islands north of Hokkaido.