The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan.

Address elements

The system, based on areas, starts from the biggest division, prefectures. They are suffixed with to (都, 'capital'), for Tokyo, fu (府, 'urban prefecture') for Osaka and Kyoto, dō (道, 'circuit') for Hokkaidō and ken (県, 'prefecture') for the rest. Conventionally, the cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are almost always referenced without to or fu, while Hokkaido is always with do; without it, Hokkai means simply 'North Sea'. The prefectures of Japan are the countrys 47 sub-national jurisdictions: one metropolis (都 to), Tokyo; one circuit (道 dō), Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures (府 fu), Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures (県 ken). ... View of Tokyos Shibuya district Long a symbol of Tokyo, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace. ... Osaka Castle Location in Japan Osaka (Japanese: 大阪市, ÅŒsaka-shi, â–¶ (help· info)) is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest city in Japan, with a population of 2. ... This page is about the city Kyoto. ... Circuits in the common law In law, a circuit is an appellate judicial district commonly seen in the court systems of many nations. ...

Prefectures are then divided into shi (市, 'city') and gun (郡, 'district'), analogous to counties in the United States. Unlike cities in the US, shi belong directly to prefectures (analogous to states in the US), without the county level in between. Big cities are usually divided into ku (区, 'ward'), which in turn are divided into machi and chō (both written 町, 'town'). In particular, Tokyo is divided into the 23 special wards, each of which is equivalent to a big city. Rural districts are subdivided into machi (町, 'town') and mura (村, 'village'). It is customary to include the district name when writing the address, unlike counties in the US. See also Municipality of Japan. This article is about the Japanese municipality system. ... The district (郡; gun) was most recently used as an administrative unit in Japan between 1878 and 1921 and is roughly equivalent to the county of the United States. ... A ku (区), translated as ward, is a district in a large Japanese city. ... A town (町 chō) is a local administrative unit in Japan. ... The 23 special wards (特別区 tokubetsuku) are self-governing, special municipalities in the central and most populous part of Tokyo, Japan. ... A town (町 chō) is a local administrative unit in Japan. ... A village (村 mura or son) is a local administrative unit in Japan. ... This article is about the Japanese municipality system. ...

The final three elements of the address are the city district (chōme 丁目), the city block (banchi 番地) and finally the house number (ban 番). As these are all numbers, they are usually simply written as a string, 1-2-3, starting with the chōme and ending in the ban. In sparsely populated rural areas, one or more of these may be missing, with some addresses having only the ban. In urban apartment buildings, on the other hand, it is not unusual to add the apartment number as a fourth element.

Street names are not used in postal addresses, and most Japanese streets don't even have names. Ban numbers are usually assigned by order of construction, meaning that especially in older areas of the city they will not run in linear order. It is for this reason when giving directions to a location, most people will offer cross streets, visual landmarks and subway stations such as "at Chuo-dori and Matsuya-dori across the street from Matsuya and Ginza station." for the Apple Store in Tokyo. In fact, many small businesses have maps on their literature and business cards. In addition, signs attached to utility poles often specify the city district name and block number, and detailed block maps of the immediate area are sometimes posted near bus stops and train station exits. A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street or road. ... Ginza Line (Click on image to enlarge. ... Matsuya Co. ... The Apple Store is Apple Computers online shop. ... View of Tokyos Shibuya district Long a symbol of Tokyo, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace. ...

In addition to the address itself, all locations in Japan have a postal code. After the reform of 1998, this is a seven-digit number written in the format 〒 DDD-DDDD, where the symbol 〒 (yūbin) means 'post code'. A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Address order

In Japanese, the address is written in order from largest unit to smallest, with the addressee's name last of all. For example, the address of the Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo [1] is: The Apple store on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago The interior of an Apple store. ... The Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan The Wako department store occupies a busy corner in Ginza Ginza (銀座) is a place in Chūō Ward, Tokyo named after the silver coin foundry or Ginza established here in 1612 (Edo period). ... View of Tokyos Shibuya district Long a symbol of Tokyo, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace. ...

〒104-0061
東京都中央区銀座3-5-12
サヱグサビル本館
Apple Store

However, the order is usually reversed when writing in Roman letters, to better suit Western conventions. The format recommended by Japan Post is: The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world. ... Logo Japan Post (日本郵政公社, Nippon Yūsei Kōsha) is a public corporation in Japan offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. ...

Apple Store
Sayegusa Honkan
5-12, Ginza 3-Chome,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061

where Tokyo is a prefecture, Chuo-ku is a special ward, 3-Chome Ginza is the name of a city district, 5-12 is the city block and building number, and Sayegusa Honkan is the name of the building at which the store resides. In practice it is common for the chōme to be prefixed, as in Japanese, resulting in the somewhat shorter Chūō (中央区; -ku) is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. ... The 23 special wards (特別区 tokubetsuku) are self-governing, special municipalities in the central and most populous part of Tokyo, Japan. ...

Apple Store
Sayegusa Honkan
Ginza 3-5-12 Chuo-ku
Tokyo 104-0061

History

The current addressing system was established after World War II as a slight modification of the scheme used since the Meiji era. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Meiji period (Japanese: Meiji Jidai 明治時代 ) (1868–1912...

For historical reasons, names quite frequently conflict. In Hokkaido many place names are identical to names found in the rest of Japan; this is largely the result of past immigration into Hokkaido of people from mainland Japan. Historians note that there is also a significant similarity between place names in Kinki region and those in northern Kyushu. See Japanese place name for more. ... The Kansai region (関西) of Japan, also known as the Kinki region (近畿地方; Kinki-chihō), lies in the middle of Japans main island, Honshu. ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyÅ«shÅ«) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Japanese place names include names for geographic features, present and former administrative divisions, transportation facilities such as railroad stations, and historic sites in Japan. ...

References

• Addresses in the sci.lang.japan FAQ
• Japanese telephone directory