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Japanese addressing system

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Re: Japanese addressing system

#31

Post by Numberwang »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #2

Hello from Osaka :) I love the way Japanese cities are laid out, and accept this system as a consequence of that. The haphazard layout is very aesthetically pleasing and walking from A to B, while requiring a winding and inefficient route, is a very pleasant experience. I live in Philadelphia, where the grid is convenient but feels suffocating and artificial. The more organic layout is much warmer.

I've traveled a lot and Osaka holds a special place in my heart. I felt so peaceful and relaxed, despite being a major city.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#32

Post by jspash »

stuartcw wrote: post #6

I used to manage address data in a insurance company in Tokyo. We had about 20% of all Japanese addresses in the database. It was a challenging job. Parsing the new addresses, normalising them and matching them to existing addresses was a major effort. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism publishes electronic data about historical addresses as huge address changes have been done over time with…

There is something deeply satisfying to me when a non-technical solution (sending a postcard) is used to solve what could be seen as a purely technical problem.

But I suppose it depends on which department is in charge of the project. In the places I've worked, if the project is deemed to be IT-related in any way, a "meatspace" solution like this would never see the light of day.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#33

Post by ghaff »

I've travelled to Japan a number of times over the past 10+ years. So, pre-smartphone to full mobile/data/maps/e-guidebook with Google Maps links/etc. Also Google Translate (although in practice I find that less useful).

What a difference it's made to getting around! I recall going back a number of years finding many specific things could be a real challenge. I remember wandering around for an hour once trying to find our office.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#34

Post by bobowzki »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #9

I think lots of places don't have the numbering system that Americans take for granted. In Vietnam my address is something like 422/35/11 Dien Bien Phu, Ward 17, Binh Thanh district, Ho Chi Minh City. The number means "go to the building #422 on the main road and turn down the unnamed road you see there; drive until you see the house numbered 35 and turn down the unnamed road THERE; then proceed to number 11." Make s…

I see an address handling startup in the future!

Re: Japanese addressing system

#35

Post by xanipher »

jspash wrote: post #32
stuartcw wrote: post #6

I used to manage address data in a insurance company in Tokyo. We had about 20% of all Japanese addresses in the database. It was a challenging job. Parsing the new addresses, normalising them and matching them to existing addresses was a major effort. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism publishes electronic data about historical addresses as huge address changes have been done over time with…

There is something deeply satisfying to me when a non-technical solution (sending a postcard) is used to solve what could be seen as a purely technical problem. But I suppose it depends on which department is in charge of the project. In the places I've worked, if the project is deemed to be IT-related in any way, a "meatspace" solution like this would never see the light of day.

How is this a purely technical problem? I'd argue it's a purely non-technical problem, especially in the many cases where e.g. the postal worker needs some implicit knowledge to make the right decisions.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#36

Post by actsof »

saghm wrote: post #21
needle0 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't quite get why the latter became widespread in the west, though - we read text from top to bottom, we pinpoint addresses by drilling going from the largest geographical entries down to the smallest, why make them go reverse against each other?

One benefit I can think of is that the volume of addresses that the average person reads tends to decrease with distance from the person's home. This means that in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom language, you can start reading from the beginning of the address, and as it gets more general, eventually you hit a point where it becomes identical to your address for the rest of it, so you can stop reading. For example, w…

Exactly, it's the same reason most date formats don't start with the year, even though it is the most significant of the numbers. If I write 12-8-2019, the 12 is the most important number for me, in speech I will usually refer to the date as "the 12th". In the same way, if I'm telling my address to someone, I'll just say the street address, since we can assume I live in the country we're in right now (which of course doesn't work on the internet, hence we specify additional information at the end).

Re: Japanese addressing system

#37

Post by dmurray »

saghm wrote: post #21
needle0 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't quite get why the latter became widespread in the west, though - we read text from top to bottom, we pinpoint addresses by drilling going from the largest geographical entries down to the smallest, why make them go reverse against each other?

One benefit I can think of is that the volume of addresses that the average person reads tends to decrease with distance from the person's home. This means that in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom language, you can start reading from the beginning of the address, and as it gets more general, eventually you hit a point where it becomes identical to your address for the rest of it, so you can stop reading. For example, w…

Yes, and at least historically, you can also write only the short part of the addresses that differs from yours. Just put the street address if sending it in the same town, and let the postal service take care of the rest. Today sorting centres are more centralised and that's not a good idea. But you don't include a line for the country if you're sending a letter domestically.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#38

Post by Svip »

hnarn wrote: post #23
peteretep wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> don't have the numbering system that Americans take for granted I’ll take a second to point out that American addresses are bizarre to many Europeans, for the same reason that your dates are; the room number or suite number is written _after_ the street number. Random addendum: in the UK, a postcode plus a small number will accurately identify most addresses, and when entering an address online you’ll be asked for…

What you're describing as "American" is official standard in Sweden, ie: > Kungsgatan 10 A LGH 1301 King's street 10, staircase A, apartment 1302 which means third floor (10 being ground, 01 being basement), then second apartment counting clockwise, meaning it could be on your right if there are just two per floor.

That's not "American". The house number comes first in the US, e.g.

> 10 Main Street Apt# 150

Which frankly just looks weird. At least the Scandinavian standard has them in a sensible order.

In Denmark it could be:

> Bredgade 10, 3. th

On Wide Street 10, 3rd floor, on the right (th being short for 'til højre'; others being mf (midt for; middle) and tv (til venstre; on the left) -- if more than three on the same floor, just a hyphen followed by a number).

Plus our post numbers come before the city name, which is also more useful.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#39

Post by hawkjo »

kbouck wrote: post #20

On a trip to Tokyo we had challenges locating a restaurant based on the address. Despite handing the address to the taxi driver, we got to the block, but the driver couldn't locate the restaurant. He had to call the restaurant to have someone come outside and wave us in. Left us wondering how that addressing system works. From the article i'm guessing this would have been a "banchi" block, where numbers were assigned…

Yeah, you got it. Building numbers—banchi blocks—label the age of the building, not its position in space. The only people for whom many addresses are physically findable seems to be people from the neighborhood who have memorized the arbitrary number of each building. Google maps is a blessed thing generally, but an absolute godsend when visiting Japan.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#40

Post by eloisant »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #2

Hello from Osaka :) I love the way Japanese cities are laid out, and accept this system as a consequence of that. The haphazard layout is very aesthetically pleasing and walking from A to B, while requiring a winding and inefficient route, is a very pleasant experience. I live in Philadelphia, where the grid is convenient but feels suffocating and artificial. The more organic layout is much warmer.

Or, you can go to Europe that have an organic layout like in Japan but street names and numbers like in US.

So you can have a pleasant experience following an inefficient route but still reach your destination.

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