genie00

I've been trying unsuccessfully to find an address in Japan on Google Maps. Is there somebody out there who could help me? This is the address in Japanese: 若松区北九州市大井戸町８７番４
So far, with the help of somebody who knows Japanese, I've determined that it's located in Fukuoka (prefecture), Kita-kyushu (city), Wakamatsu-ku (ward), Oido machi (town). I've learned that streets in Japan have no name, and blocks are numbered instead, with the buildings being numbered in the order they were registered. According to this system, I should be looking for Building # 4 in Block # 87. I was told to enter the address in Japanese characters on Google Maps to get an accurate location, but when I do that, it takes me to Building # 25 in Block # 10.
I have no way of contacting the owners of that building for directions. I'd really appreciate it if somebody could help me with this issue. Thanks!

armagebedar

The correctly formatted address would be: 福岡県北九州市若松区大井戸町８７番４. However, there is no 87th block in Oidomachi -- they only go up to 15.

If you could be more specific about what type of location you are searching for, perhaps we can be of more assistance.

mjm

Could it be just: 若松区北九州市大井戸町７番４? The 8 is directly above the "i" on the keyboard and if typing the character before the 8 you show that would be keyed as "m-a-c-h-i" . I wonder if the hit the "8" inadvertently?

acregal

One thing I will point out - it isn't clear how old this address is, so at some point it might have existed.

I currently live in a place that was train tracks 25+ years ago, so the location name simply didn't exist. Before the train tracks were here, there was a different name from the current one, and the places across the street (which were not train tracks) had their name changed as well.

slawecki

get in a cab in a large hotel with lots of cabs. give the driver the address. ask him if he can find the place. if not ask him to find someone for you who can find the place.

Pickles

This is probably some of the worst advice you can give anybody about finding an address in Japan. I would never get in a cab in Japan without knowing exactly where it is I'm going, either by having been there before, or by having it clearly identified in a printed map to show the driver.

jib71

It's especially bad advice in the circumstances (i.e. address contains an error or is not findable). I think mjm's suggestion that there may be a typo or transcription error is a good theory. If the address has ever been copied by someone who isn't familiar with Japanese address formats, it might be a missing hyphen: (i.e. the correct address could be 8-7-4?)

AlwaysAisle

sAlso, an address used in official land and real estate registration for a local municipality government called FudousanTouki (不動産登記) and a delivery address used by the post office can be different. Usually delivery address used by post office is used in everyday including in GPS and map websites on the internet including Google Maps. Also, address is listed on Japanese birth certificate, Koseki Shouhon (戸籍抄本) which address listed is often father's home address. When city/town grow and go through change in address system, usually address on a birth certificate remain unchanged using old address system.

In is not something happen every day, but once in a while in blue moon, it is possible to get an address in Japan which is not listed on Post Office address system (which is used by Google Maps also) but the address itself was not mistake. This tends to happen more at country side rural area than large city metropolitan area.

jrmyl

I entered the address string that armagebedar posting, but changed the numbers to 8-7-4. It seems to bring up one small block that is number 8. It has a book store just to the southeast of it and blocks 7 and 11 flank it on either side. Hopefully that helps.

acregal

I thought it might be a missing hyphen initially but looked into it and it seems there is no missing hyphen (some addresses in Japan are only A-B, not A-B-C - my former employer and my parents in law are like this).

ksandness

I had a similar problem on my last trip. I was booked at the Tokyu Stay-Shimbashi, and I had the map off the Japanese version of the website, but the hotel was not in the designated location. The taxi driver asked if I had a phone number for the property. Fortunately, the phone number was up to date. The driver whipped out his phone, called the place, and after a lot of "Ah's" and "naruhodo's," he turned to me and explained that the hotel was on a street that had been recently built to bisect some older existing blocks.

OliverB

Would anyone mind if I piggybacked off this thread?

I'm taking a bus from Minamisenju Station in Arakawa next week and I'm a bit confused about the following characters: 甲東神田行

I've figured out that we should be taking the 42 Eastbound... 東４２甲東神田行... I don't understand the second part of the directions. What is "Jo Higashi Kanda" or "Jo Higashi Jinja"? Could someone please transcribe in English as Google Translate sometimes applies literal translations that often don't work or make sense when it comes to addresses. I assume it's the name of a bus line, which would be very helpful to know.

Our destination is the Asakusabashi Station bus terminal: 浅草橋駅前（バス）

I'm assuming that 42 East should suffice to get us where we need to go, but I'd just like to be certain since Arakawa is a bit out there and I'm confused by whatever "甲東神田行" means.

Thanks.

mjm

Higashi 42 Ko Higashi Kanda yuki

The Ko is a designation like 1, 2, 3 etc. It is used in contracts to indicate Party A also. The destination is Higashi Kanda and you'll take the Higashi 42 Ko bus to get there.

AlwaysAisle

It is not "Jo" but it is "ko" as in 「甲」「乙」「丙」、"ko" "otsu" "hei". It is 「東４２甲　東神田行き」

OliverB

Thank you both!

Just to clarify, when you indicate the destination is "Higashi Kanda" do you meant that's the destination of the east-bound 42 bus line; i.e. the Higashi 42 Ko bus headed in the direction of Higashi Kanda?

I just want to be certain as our destination seems to be the bus terminal at Asakusabashi Satation.


This is a copy/paste of what I've noted on my itinerary, does it read accurately?

* Take the Higashi 42 Ko Bus : 1:30 PM

* Eastbound 42 Bus towards Higashi Kanda - 東４２甲 東神田行き

* Destination is Asakusabashi Station

* Approx. 20 min. transit time - 13 stops total

* If running late, second bus departs at 1:48 pm



Thanks again!!