Decoding and Locating Japanese Addresses

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Addresses

Those familiar with, for example, the United States' system of addressing letters where the address follows the format of going from specific (recipient followed by recipient's house number and street) to general (city followed by state) will note that the Japanese format is quite the opposite. The format of a typical Japanese address usually goes from the prefectural or general area, down to the county, town, or village level, and finally terminates in the name of the small neighborhood as well as the individual's name. The name of the small neighborhood is often shown alongside numbers which can be likened to coordinates which represent clusters of houses in a neighborhood. These numbers are similar to house numbers in that occasionally a house posts a sign stating these coordinates. Most houses however (and unfortunately) don't post these numbers which makes pinpointing a house a bit of a social event (it often requires asking directions). Japanese neighborhoods do not have street names but rather local addresses refer to groups of houses or apartments.

From most general to most specific the following suffixes should be helpful in providing you with clues about place names:
-to, -do, -fu, -ken are all suffixes used for prefectures
-gun is the suffix used to represent a county
-shi is the suffix used for a city
-cho is the suffix used to identify a town
-mura or -son are the suffixes used to denote a village
-ku represents a ward
-chome often represents a block or area number
-ban can be translated to mean number

Locating A Place

If you can input Japanese, you can get a map to anywhere in Japan from http://map.yahoo.co.jp/  You can get details all the way from the nearest train station up to a specific address if you look carefully and can read Japanese.

One suggested book would be Japan: A Bilingual Atlas published by Kodansha International, ISBN 4-7700-1536-4.