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Japanese addressing system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. The Japanese system is complex and idiosyncratic, the product of the natural growth of urban areas, as opposed to the systems used in cities that are laid out as grids and divided into quadrants or districts.

When written in Latin characters, addresses follow the convention used by most Western addresses and start with the smallest geographic entity (typically a house number) and proceed to the largest. However, even when translated using Latin characters, Japan Post requires that the address also be written in Japanese to ensure correct delivery.[1]

Address parts

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A town block indicator plate (まち表示ひょうじばん, gaiku-hyōjiban) displaying the address Nakamura-ku, Meieki 4-chōme, 5-banchi (in Nagoya).

Japanese addresses begin with the largest division of the country, the prefecture. Most of these are called ken (けん), but there are also three other special prefecture designations: to () for Tokyo, (みち) for Hokkaidō and fu () for the two urban prefectures of Osaka and Kyoto.

Following the prefecture is the municipality. For a large municipality this is the city (shi, ). 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, ), where in the prefecture of Tokyo, 23 of them are designated as the special ward (特別とくべつ, tokubetsu-ku)[2][3] with added authority to the mayors. For smaller municipalities, the address includes the district (gun, ぐん) followed by the town (chō or machi, まち) or village (mura or son, むら). In Japan, a city is separate from districts, which contain towns and villages.

For addressing purposes, municipalities may be divided into chō or machi (two different readings of the character まち, depending on the particular case) and/or aza (). Despite using the same character as town, the machi here is purely a unit of address, not administration; likewise, there are also ku address divisions that are not administrative special wards. There are two common schemes:

  1. Municipality is divided first into machi and then into city districts (ひのと chōme). Example: 台東たいとう[浅草あさくさよん丁目ちょうめ] (Taito-ku, [Asakusa, 4-chōme])
  2. Municipality is divided into ō-aza (大字だいじ), which may be divided into aza (), which may in turn be divided into ko-aza (小字こあざ). Example: 青森あおもり[大字だいじ滝沢たきざわ住吉すみよし] (Aomori-shi, [ō-aza Takizawa, aza Sumiyoshi])

However, exceptions abound, and the line between the schemes is often blurry as there are no clear delimiters for machi, aza, etc. There are also some municipalities like Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki which do not use any subdivisions.

Below this level, two styles of addressing are possible.

  1. In the newer jūkyo hyōji (住居じゅうきょ表示ひょうじ) style, enacted into law by the 1962 Act on Indication of Residential Address (住居じゅうきょ表示ひょうじかんする法律ほうりつ)[4] and used by the majority of the country, the next level is the city block (まち gaiku), always followed by the building number (番号ばんごう bangō). Building 10 in block 5 would be formally written as 5ばん10ごう (5-ban 10-). For apartment buildings, the apartment number (部屋へや番号ばんごう heya bangō) may be appended to the building with a hyphen, so apartment 103 in the aforementioned building would be 5ばん10-103ごう.
  2. In the older chiban (地番ちばん) style, still used in some rural and older city areas, the next level is the area/block name (地区ちく chiku, often abbreviated as ku), the next smaller level is the lot number (番地ばんち banchi), optionally followed by a lot number extension (formally shigō (ささえごう), more often edaban (えだばん)). The lot number designates a plot of land registered in the land registry, and a lot number extension is assigned when a piece of land is divided into two or more pieces in the registry. This can be written as any of 3番地ばんち5 (3-banchi 5), 3番地ばんちの5 (3-banchi-no 5) or 3ばん5 (3-ban 5). Land not designated by the registry is known as mubanchi (番地ばんち), with any dwellings there being bangaichi (番外地ばんがいち).

In both styles, since all address elements from chōme down are numeric, in casual use it is common to form them into a string separated by hyphens or the possessive suffix の (no), resulting in Asakusa 4-5-10 or Asakusa 4の5の10. This renders the two styles indistinguishable, but since each municipality adopts one style or the other, there is no risk of ambiguity. The apartment number may also be appended, resulting in 4-5-10-103.

A sign displaying the town address Kamimeguro 2 chōme; block (gaiku) 21, building (bangō) 9 identifies the residential address. The upper plaque is the district name plate (町名ちょうめいばん, chōmei ban) and the lower, the residential number plate (住居じゅうきょ番号ばんごうばん, jūkyo bangō ban).

Street names are seldom used in postal addresses (except in Kyoto and some Hokkaidō cities such as Sapporo).

Banchi blocks often have an irregular shape, as banchi numbers were assigned by order of registration in the older system, meaning that especially in older areas of the city they will not run in a linear order. For this reason, when giving directions to a location, people will often offer cross streets, visual landmarks and subway stations, such as "at Chūō-dori and Matsuya-dori across the street from Matsuya and Ginza station" for a store in Tokyo. Many businesses feature maps on their literature and business cards. 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 stations in larger cities.

In addition to the address itself, all locations in Japan have a postal code. After the reform of 1998, this begins with a three-digit number, a hyphen, and a four-digit number, for example 123-4567. A postal mark, 〒, may precede the code to indicate that the number following is a postal code.

Address order

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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 Tokyo Central Post Office is

〒100-8994
東京とうきょう千代田ちよだ丸ノ内まるのうち丁目ちょうめ7ばん2ごう
東京とうきょう中央ちゅうおう郵便ゆうびんきょく
〒100-8994
Tōkyō-to Chiyoda-ku Marunouchi 2-Chōme 7-ban 2-gō
Tōkyō Chūō Yūbin-kyoku

or

〒100-8994
東京とうきょう千代田ちよだ丸ノ内まるのうち2-7-2
東京とうきょう中央ちゅうおう郵便ゆうびんきょく
〒100-8994
Tōkyō-to Chiyoda-ku Marunouchi 2-7-2
Tōkyō Chūō Yūbin-kyoku

The order is reversed when writing in rōmaji. The format recommended by Japan Post[5] is:

Tokyo Central Post Office
7-2, Marunouchi 2-Chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8994

In this address, Tokyo is the prefecture; Chiyoda-ku is one of the special wards; Marunouchi 2-Chome is the name of the city district; and 7-2 is the city block and building number. In practice[6] it is common for the chōme to be prefixed, as in Japanese, resulting in the somewhat shorter:

Tokyo Central Post Office
2-7-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8994

While almost all elements of the address are reversed when written in rōmaji, connected strings of numbers are treated as units and not reversed. Firstly, the "city block and building number" is a unit, and its digits are not reversed – in this example it is "7-2" in both Japanese and roman, though the Japanese (literally Marunouchi 2-Chōme 7-2) is partly reversed to "7-2, Marunouchi 2-Chōme" in roman if chōme is separate. Similarly, if the chōme is included, these also form a unit, so in this example the string is 2-7-2 in both Japanese and Western alphabet.

Special cases

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As mentioned above, there are certain areas of Japan that use somewhat unusual address systems. Sometimes the differing system has been incorporated into the official system, as in Sapporo, while in Kyoto the system is completely different from, but used alongside the official system. Kyoto and Sapporo have addresses based on their streets being laid out in a grid plan, unlike most Japanese cities.

Kyoto

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Heian-kyō was laid out on a grid in AD 794, and grid-based addresses continue to be used in today's Kyoto.

Although the official national addressing system is in use in Kyoto – in Chiban style, with ward (, ku), district (ひのと, chōme), and land number (番地ばんち, 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. This system is, however, recognized by the post office and by government agencies.

For added precision, the street-based address can be given, followed by the chō and land number. Sometimes multiple houses share a given land number, in which case the name (either just family name, or full name of resident) must also be specified; this name is generally displayed in front of the house on a hyōsatsu (表札ひょうさつ, name plate), often decoratively presented, as are house numbers in other countries.

The system works by naming the intersection of two streets and then indicating if the address is north (あが, agaru, "above"), south (しも, sagaru, "below"), east (ひがしにゅう, higashi-iru, "enter east"), or west (西入にしいり, nishi-iru, "enter west") of the intersection. More precisely, the two streets of the intersection are not treated symmetrically: one names the street that the address is on, then gives a nearby cross street, and then specifies the address relative to the cross street. What this means is that a building can have more than one address depending on which cross street intersection is chosen.

For instance, the address of Kyoto Tower is listed on their website as:[7]

〒600-8216
京都きょうと下京しもぎょう烏丸からすまどおりななじょう東塩小路ひがししおこうじまち 721-1

Following the postcode, this contains the city and ward, followed by the unofficial address, a space, and then the official address:

京都きょうと下京しもぎょう Kyōto-shi, Shimogyō-ku
烏丸からすまななじょうKarasuma-Shichijō-sagaru
東塩小路ひがししおこうじまち 721-1 Higashi-Shiokōji 721-1

This address means "south of the intersection of Karasuma and Shichijō streets" – more precisely, "on Karasuma, below (south of) Shichijō" (Karasuma runs north–south, while Shichijō is an east–west cross street). The street address may alternatively be given as 烏丸からすまどおりななじょうル (with street (つう, dōri) inserted), indicating clearly that the address is on Karasuma street.

However, the system is flexible and allows for various alternatives, such as:

京都きょうと京都きょうと下京しもぎょう烏丸からすま塩小路しおこうじあが
Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Shimogyō-ku, Karasuma-Shiokōji-agaru
"(On) Karasuma (street), above (north of) Shiokōji (street)"

For less well known buildings, the official address is often given after the informal one, as in the address for the Shinatora Ramen restaurant:

京都きょうと京都きょうと下京しもぎょう烏丸からすまどおり五条ごじょう大坂おおさかまち384
Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi, Shimogyō-ku, Karasuma-dōri-Gojō-sagaru, Ōsakachō 384
"Ōsakachō 384, (on) Karasuma street, below (south of) Gojō"

As the initial part of the address is familiar, it is often abbreviated – for example, Kyōto-fu, Kyōto-shi (京都きょうと京都きょうと, "Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City") can be abbreviated to Kyōto-shi (京都きょうと, "Kyoto City"), as in the Kyoto Tower listing. More informally, particularly on return addresses for in-town mail, the city and ward can be abbreviated to the initial character, with a dot or comma to indicate abbreviation – there are only 11 wards of Kyoto, so this is easily understood. For example, 京都きょうと Kyōto-shi is abbreviated to きょうKyō– and 下京しもぎょう Shimogyō-ku is abbreviated to Shimo–. Combining these (and dropping okurigana), one may abbreviate the address of Kyoto Tower to:

〒600-8216
きょうした烏丸からすまななじょう
Karasuma-Shichijō-sagaru, Shimo–, Kyō–, 600-8216

Sapporo

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Sapporo's system, though official, differs in structure from regular Japanese addresses. The city-center is divided into quadrants by two intersecting roads, Kita-Ichijo and Soseigawa; blocks are then named based on their distance from this point, and farther from the city center, multiple blocks are included in each. The east–west distance is indicated by chōme (a slightly unorthodox usage of chōme), while the north–south distance is indicated by , which has been incorporated into the chō name.

The address to Sapporo JR Tower is:[8]

札幌さっぽろ中央ちゅうおうきた5じょう西にし2丁目ちょうめ5番地ばんち
Sapporo-shi, Chūō-ku, kita-5-jō-nishi 2-chōme 5-banchi

This address indicates that it is the fifth building on a block located on 5 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 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, 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.

For example, far in the outskirts is the Sapporo Tachibana Hospital, at:[9]

〒006-0841 札幌さっぽろ手稲ていねあけぼの11じょう2丁目ちょうめ3ばん12ごう
Sapporo-shi, Teine-ku, Akebono-11-jō, 2-chōme-3-ban-12-gō

Building 12 on block 3 of a chōme measuring 11 north and 2 chōme west of where the Hakodate Main Line meets Tarukawa Street. Or Toyohira Ward office, at:[10]

〒062-0934 札幌さっぽろ豊平とよひら平岸ひらぎし6じょう10丁目ちょうめ1-1
Sapporo, Toyohira-ku, Hiragishi-6-jō, 10-chōme-1-ban-1-gō

Building 1 on block 1 of a chōme measuring 6 south and 10 chōme east of where a small street meets the Toyohira River. The direction is understood based on the quadrant of the city the is considered to be in, which may be off from the actual direction to the city center, depending on the landmark used.

Far-flung and less crowded parts of the city may instead use a standard chō name, rather than a numbered , such as Makomanai.

Ōita

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Many areas of Ōita Prefecture including the cities of Ōita and Usuki commonly use an unofficial parallel system known as "administrative wards" (行政ぎょうせい, gyōseiku) or "neighbourhood council names" (自治じちかいめい, jichikaimei).[11] While outwardly similar, these addresses end in kumi (くみ) or ku ():

大分おおいたけん大分おおいた羽屋はや4-1-Aぐみ
Haneya 4-1-A-kumi, Ōita-shi, Ōita-ken
大分おおいたけん臼杵きゅうしょ臼杵きゅうしょ洲崎すさきよん丁目ちょうめ1くみ
Suzaki 4-chōme 1-kumi, Usuki-shi, Ōita-ken

As the names indicate, these derive from traditional neighbourhood councils. While they continue to be used locally (e.g. school and electoral districts) and may be accepted for mail delivery, they are not considered official addresses, and individual buildings in each kumi will also have a standard ōaza-banchi address.[11] For example, Usuki City Hall, while within Suzaki 4-chome 1-kumi, has the formal address of Usuki 72–1, which may be prepended with ōaza [ja] for clarity:

〒875-8501
大分おおいたけん臼杵きゅうしょ大字だいじ臼杵きゅうしょ72-1
Ōaza Usuki 72-1, Usuki-shi, Ōita-ken 875-8501

Katakana blocks (bu)

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Some cities in Ishikawa Prefecture, including Kanazawa and Nanao, sometimes use katakana in the iroha ordering (イ・ロ・ハ・ニ ... ) instead of numbers for blocks. These are called bu (). For example, the address of the Kagaya Hotel in Nanao is:[12]

〒926-0192
石川いしかわけん七尾ななお和倉わくらまちヨ80
Wakuramachi yo 80, Nanao-shi, Ishikawa-ken 926-0192

Jikkan instead of numbered chōme

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Some cities, including parts of Nagaoka, Niigata, use jikkan (かぶとおつへい ... ) prefixed to the block number to indicate traditional divisions. These function similarly to chōme and are treated as such in addresses. For example, Yoita police station in Nagaoka has the address:[13]

〒940-2402
新潟にいがたけん長岡ながおか与板よいたまち与板よいたおつ5881-3
Yoita-otsu 5881-3, Yoita-machi, Nagaoka-shi, Niigata-ken 940-2402

History

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The current addressing system was established after World War II as a slight modification of the scheme used since the Meiji era.

For historical reasons, names quite frequently conflict. 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. Historians note that there is also a significant similarity between place names in Kansai region and those in northern Kyūshū. See Japanese place names for more.

Named roads

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Named roads (とお, tōri, dōri) are roads or sections deemed noteworthy and given a name. Unlike in other nations, named roads are not used in addresses but merely for logistic purposes; excepting in the above-mentioned Kyoto system.

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "郵便ゆうびんトラブルのQ&A - 日本にっぽん郵便ゆうびん". www.post.japanpost.jp. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  2. ^ 公益こうえき財団ざいだん法人ほうじん特別とくべつ協議きょうぎかい Tokubetsu-ku Kyogikai (16 April 2019). "特別とくべつとは" [About Special wards]. www.tokyo-23city.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  3. ^ "トップページ" [Top page]. www.tokyo23city-kuchokai.jp (in Japanese). 特別とくべつ区長くちょうかい (Mayors of Special Wards). Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  4. ^ "住居じゅうきょ表示ひょうじかんする法律ほうりつ : (昭和しょうわさんじゅうななねんがつじゅうにち法律ほうりつだいひゃくじゅうきゅうごう, 最終さいしゅう改正かいせい平成へいせいいちいちねんいちがつにち法律ほうりつだいいちろくごう)" [Jūkyo hyōji ni kansuru hōritsu (issued as Hōritsu No.119 as of 10 May 1962 with the latest revision: Hōritsu No.160 effective as of 22 December 1991)]. Law.e-gov.go.jp (in Japanese). 22 December 1999. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  5. ^ "How to Fill Out EMS label - Japan Post". Post.japanpost.jp. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Corporate Information > About Japan Post". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  7. ^ "アクセス" [Access]. Kyoto-tower.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
  8. ^ "会社かいしゃ概要がいよう | JRタワー 札幌さっぽろえきから直結ちょっけつのショッピングセンター 〈アピア・エスタ・パセオ・札幌さっぽろステラプレイス〉" [About us | JR Tower, shopping malls connected to Sapporo station (Apia, Esta, Paseo, and Sapporo Stella Place)]. Jr-tower.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  9. ^ "札幌さっぽろ立花りっか病院びょういん | -アクセス" [Sapporo Tachibana Hospital | Access]. Fukuwakai.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  10. ^ "区役所くやくしょ案内あんない" [Ward office guide]. City.sapporo.jp (in Japanese). 札幌さっぽろ豊平とよひら区役所くやくしょ [Toyohira Ward, City of Sapporo]. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  11. ^ a b "らしの窓口まどぐち > 住民じゅうみん基本きほん台帳だいちょう > 住民じゅうみん異動いどうとどけ" [Life events > Basic Resident Register > Reporting address change]. Wayback Machine. 臼杵きゅうしょ市役所しやくしょ [City of Usuki]. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20.
  12. ^ "会社かいしゃ概要がいよう | 企業きぎょうサイト" [Company profile]. Kagaya.co.jp (in Japanese). 和倉温泉わくらおんせん 加賀屋かがやグループ Kagaya Group, Wakura onsen hot-spring. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  13. ^ "新潟にいがたけん警察けいさつホームページ - 警察けいさつ本部ほんぶ警察けいさつしょのご案内あんない県内けんない警察けいさつしょ与板よいた警察けいさつしょ】" [Home > Guide to the headquarters and police stations > local police stations in our prefecture > Yoita police station]. Police.pref.niigata.jp (in Japanese). 新潟にいがたけん警察けいさつ Nigata Prefecture Police. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  14. ^ 北海道ほっかいどう地名ちめい(Hokkaido no chimei) Place Names in Hokkaido (in Japanese). Heibonsha. October 2003. ISBN 9784582490015.
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