Japanese addressing system

However, even when translated using Latin characters, Japan Post requires that the address also is written in Japanese to ensure correct delivery.

Cities that have a large enough population (greater than 500,000 residents) and are regarded as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan are called designated cities, and are subdivided into wards (ku, 区), where in the prefecture of Tokyo, 23 of them are designated as the special ward (特別区, tokubetsu-ku)[2][3] with added authority to the mayors.

For smaller municipalities, the address includes the district (gun, 郡) followed by the town (chō or machi, 町) or village (mura or son, 村).

For addressing purposes, municipalities may be divided into chō or machi (two different readings of the character 町, depending on the particular case) and/or aza (字).

Kyoto and Sapporo have addresses based on their streets being laid out in a grid plan, unlike most Japanese cities.

Although the official national addressing system is in use in Kyoto – in Chiban style, with ward (区, ku), district (丁目, chōme), and land number (番地, banchi), the chō divisions are very small, numerous, and there is often more than one chō with the same name within a single ward, making the system extremely confusing.

As a result, most residents of Kyoto use an unofficial system based instead on street names, a form of vernacular geography.

The system works by naming the intersection of two streets and then indicating if the address is north (上ル, agaru, "above"), south (下ル, sagaru, "below"), east (東入ル, higashi-iru, "enter east"), or west (西入ル, nishi-iru, "enter west") of the intersection.

The address to Sapporo JR Tower is:[8] This address indicates that it is the fifth building on a block located on 5 jō north and 2 chōme west of the center, named with the actual cardinal names of kita (north), minami (south), nishi (west), and higashi (east).

The directional names for jō extend for about 7 kilometers to the north–south along the main Soseigawa Dori, but only about 3 kilometers at the most to the east and west; outside of that area, jō have other names, though the starting point of each is still the corner in the direction of the city center, often using landmarks such as the Hakodate Main Line or large roads to mark the new numbering.

[11] While outwardly similar, these addresses end in kumi (組) or ku (区): As the names indicate, these derive from traditional neighbourhood councils.

For example, the address of the Kagaya Hotel in Nanao is:[12] Some cities, including parts of Nagaoka, Niigata, use jikkan (甲・乙・丙 ... ) prefixed to the block number to indicate traditional divisions.

It is typical in Hokkaidō where many place names are identical to those found in the rest of Japan, for example Shin-Hiroshima (literally new Hiroshima) to Hiroshima,[14] largely as the result of the systematic group emigration projects since the late 19th century to Hokkaidō; people from villages across mainland Japan dreamt to become wealthy farmers.

Unlike in other nations, named roads are not used in addresses but merely for logistic purposes; excepting in the above-mentioned Kyoto system.