Yesterday night I had to go to the center of Kyoto to buy some used stuff, real bargains, which must be collected at owner's place. Normally, you would send the address which you can easily google. You check the closest metro station and the diraction
in which you should go. Eventuallly you will find the right house/appartament number. NOT in Japan. Why? Because most streets have no names (lucky me, Kyoto is a one of very few places where some big avenues are named). One might ask how it is possible. I read that in the past people just numbered houses as they were registered in the city hall, so there is no order at all. How the post is delivered, one might wonder. I decided to solve this mystery. Even though it's a really complicated thing and often the Japanese themselves are confused, nothing is impossible and I will try to explain it as simply as possible. So think of a baking tin of brownie (mmm...). First divide brownie into pieces. Every piece is called KU (ward). No take one piece (don't eat it - no yet) and divide it into smaller pieces. Now you can say hello to CHO (or MACHI - town). Try to divide it a little more to have a city district CHOME. We are almost there. Take a tea spoon and chop off a BANCHI (a land number). Now the last division. See that little crumb. That’s GO a house number. That's a lot of information for such a tiny bite. Moreover an addressing order is diverted. You start with a postal code and you finish with GO. So how do the Japanese find each other in this street nameless country? That's surprisingly easy. They simply send or fax each other a map of the area. Crazy? Not for the Japanese. Even taxi drivers often study maps given by passangers before they start the engine (GPS is useless). You might think that with google maps it shouldn’t be that difficult. Well, maybe if you know Japanese, because you cannot type the address in roman letters nor in the western order! Japanese illiterates can only count on their host's good will to send them a proper link. So I printed 4 maps with different zoom and still I’ve got lost. The Japanese themeselves tried to help me but even they had some difficulties to understand the map. The good thing is that they will never leave you alone and they will go with you anywhere to help you find the place (thank you my dear Samurai descendants). Ufff we did it so now you can eat the whole brownie till the last KU.
in which you should go. Eventuallly you will find the right house/appartament number. NOT in Japan. Why? Because most streets have no names (lucky me, Kyoto is a one of very few places where some big avenues are named). One might ask how it is possible. I read that in the past people just numbered houses as they were registered in the city hall, so there is no order at all. How the post is delivered, one might wonder. I decided to solve this mystery. Even though it's a really complicated thing and often the Japanese themselves are confused, nothing is impossible and I will try to explain it as simply as possible. So think of a baking tin of brownie (mmm...). First divide brownie into pieces. Every piece is called KU (ward). No take one piece (don't eat it - no yet) and divide it into smaller pieces. Now you can say hello to CHO (or MACHI - town). Try to divide it a little more to have a city district CHOME. We are almost there. Take a tea spoon and chop off a BANCHI (a land number). Now the last division. See that little crumb. That’s GO a house number. That's a lot of information for such a tiny bite. Moreover an addressing order is diverted. You start with a postal code and you finish with GO. So how do the Japanese find each other in this street nameless country? That's surprisingly easy. They simply send or fax each other a map of the area. Crazy? Not for the Japanese. Even taxi drivers often study maps given by passangers before they start the engine (GPS is useless). You might think that with google maps it shouldn’t be that difficult. Well, maybe if you know Japanese, because you cannot type the address in roman letters nor in the western order! Japanese illiterates can only count on their host's good will to send them a proper link. So I printed 4 maps with different zoom and still I’ve got lost. The Japanese themeselves tried to help me but even they had some difficulties to understand the map. The good thing is that they will never leave you alone and they will go with you anywhere to help you find the place (thank you my dear Samurai descendants). Ufff we did it so now you can eat the whole brownie till the last KU.
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