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Japanese addressing system

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Re: Japanese addressing system

#51

Post by empath75 »

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…

Nicaragua's is amazing in as much as they have neither street names nor numbers in a lot of places

An example address:

> Donde fue Lacmiel, 2 cuadras arriba, 1/2 cuadra al sur (translated: where previously was located Lacmiel 2 blocks east, 1/2 block south).

https://vianica.com/nicaragua/practical-info/14-addresses.ht...

Re: Japanese addressing system

#52

Post by ghaff »

hibbelig wrote: post #50
ghaff wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This and problems like this are rampant in New England which is mostly covered by a lot of smaller towns (with a few large cities of course). Basically everything usually resets at a town boundary. Sometimes the name changes. Sometimes it doesn't. But numbers almost always reset. And, even within a town, it's not unusual for streets to change name a couple times in the course of a few miles. And towns reuse street na…

> And, even within a town, it's not unusual for streets to change name a couple times in the course of a few miles. You say that as if it was a bad thing. This idea that a "street" is a line on the map, and whether there is actually asphalt at that spot is yet to be defined -- this is a very strange idea to me. If I get to the right street, I expect to be able to follow it until I get to the correct address. Streets…

>If I get to the right street, I expect to be able to follow it until I get to the correct address.

Assuming you're on the street in the correct town, sure.

Continuity is actually one of the things that was fixed as part of the whole E911 system in the US. Before that, you would sometimes have streets that, for example, would have two segments that weren't actually connected in the middle. Or you'd have a single named road with a T shape or some other layout that meant you couldn't just follow it from one end to the other.

You also, as someone else mentioned, used to have houses with rural route numbers (I grew up on one) that didn't have a street address at all. In our case, our town address didn't even correspond to where we were located because it was the adjacent town that did the RR deliveries.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#53

Post by ginko »

peteretep wrote: post #15
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…

> 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…

I wouldn't call them 'bizarre', just different. You already mentioned the ordering thing. What's also quite different is that in Europe street numbers are usually consecutive while in the US you usually use the top digits for the block number and the bottom digit for the number in the block. That's why you barely see street numbers over 2 digits in Europe while they're usually 4 digits even for small streets in the US.

I guess the American system has its advantages when you split up properties. In Europe you sometimes end up with numbers like 12A, 12B etc. that way.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#54

Post by trickstra »

eloisant wrote: post #40
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.

That organic tree-like structure is often more efficient than always taking only 90 degree turns

Re: Japanese addressing system

#55

Post by donatj »

Svip wrote: post #38
hnarn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Generally with written addresses in America it goes on a second line, which makes sense to my American brain. Different lines do different things, locate the building, then the specific area of the building.

> 10 Main Street

> Apt. 150

Re: Japanese addressing system

#56

Post by gumby »

blahedo wrote: post #27
jen729w wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My UK-centric view of addresses caused me an unnecessary and unpleasant 3kms walk, backpack-laden, in high summer Sydney heat back in 2003. Turns out “100 Some Road” can exist in multiple contiguous suburbs here in Australia. The numbering for the road re-starts at a suburb boundary! Who knew? This means that, upon exiting a train station and seeing number 2, 4, 6... to your left, you can’t walk left and find the 100…

Many parts of the US are the same. Even worse: there are areas in the Chicago suburbs (I presume other cities' suburbs too) where since a town boundary runs down the middle of the street, the numbering on opposite sides of the street are actually going in different directions, because they are relative to two different town numbering systems. O.o

This is true and the boundary of Palo Alto, Mountain Virw, and Los Altos right at San Antonio and El Camino

Seemed strange to me that Rambus could be in Los Altos (a largely residential town) until I drove past it one day and thought it was in Mountain View.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#57

Post by gumby »

ghaff wrote: post #52
hibbelig wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And, even within a town, it's not unusual for streets to change name a couple times in the course of a few miles. You say that as if it was a bad thing. This idea that a "street" is a line on the map, and whether there is actually asphalt at that spot is yet to be defined -- this is a very strange idea to me. If I get to the right street, I expect to be able to follow it until I get to the correct address. Streets…

>If I get to the right street, I expect to be able to follow it until I get to the correct address. Assuming you're on the street in the correct town, sure. Continuity is actually one of the things that was fixed as part of the whole E911 system in the US. Before that, you would sometimes have streets that, for example, would have two segments that weren't actually connected in the middle. Or you'd have a single name…

This is still pretty common in the US. Midtown Palo Alto is full of streets with discontinuities and small side streets all bearing he same name.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#58

Post by gumby »

The stories in this discussion make it easier for me to understand my grandmother’s refusal to adopt a house number when South Australia assigned them (50s? 60s?). Up into the 90s when she moved into a unit she insisted on using just name of her house, and it appeared to work just fine.

And it’s not like she lived in some grand house; just an ordinary single family house. I walked by it last year and the current owners have a number on the gate (up I had never known what it was); my cousin kept the house name plate that unused to hang there.

Re: Japanese addressing system

#59

Post by zaphirplane »

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…

> 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."

There are 2 options for after 422 depending on which direction you are facing How is that resolved and understood

Re: Japanese addressing system

#60

Post by magicbuzz »

ghaff wrote: post #33

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 fin…

Without smartphone was tough in Japan. But streetview was great. I’d put an address in, then look at each corner to ensure I knew what each turn looked like after arriving at the local station to get to the specific address.
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