Addresses in Japan

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Location: Tokyo, Japan

Before going to Japan, I had read that they don't use street addresses in Tokyo.

That sounded too stupid to be true, but it is true, and it is stupid.

Instead of street addresses, they use a system of numbered blocks and building names.

Lonely Planet had a listing for a nightclub in Tokyo and I decided to check it out. I copied down its "address," along with directions that started at a nearby subway station. I followed the directions as best I could, but couldn't find the club.

I ended up in front of a hotel and decided to ask for directions. The hotel was nice, and not busy. There were three employees at the front desk who spoke English and were eager to help. I showed them the address. None of them could make heads or tails of it. They pulled out a binder full of maps and eventually located the correct page. That narrowed the search down to a different, smaller binder that was also full of maps. They had many binders of maps.

After a couple minutes, they triumphantly declared that the club was on the same street as the hotel, but two blocks down. All that work for something that would have been immediately obvious if they had just used street addresses.

Of course, this is a complete non-issue with modern smartphones.

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