Sending a Letter in Japan and Japanese Addresses

ByRay Proper

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Jun 23, 2014

Sending a Letter in Japan and Japanese Addresses

Though it rarely comes up with the prevalence of email now-a-days, you sometimes need to mail a letter. This is what you need to know if you want to do it in Japan.

• A standard letter costs  82 yen to mail. You can buy stamps at the post office or convenience store
• You can write the address in Japanese or English, but the style is different for each.
• Receiver’s name goes on the front, senders is written on the back of the envelope; generally in the lower right hand corner.

Japanese style is like this, and the last item is the recipient’s name

〒460-0002 愛知県 名古屋市中区丸の内3-17-6 ナカトウ丸の内ビル4階

• 〒 – This symbol precedes the postal code.
• 460-0002 – This is the seven digit postal code.
• 愛知県 – This is the prefecture. The last kanji means prefecture, the remainder is the name. In this case it is Aichi Ken
• 名古屋市 – This is for the city. In this case, it is Nagoya City. The last kanji means city.
• 中区 – This is the ward , village, or area: In this case, it is Naka Ku.
• 丸の内 – This is the city district. In this case, Marunochi.
• 3-17-6  – These are the specific location within the above areas.
  • 3  – is the cho, defining your location within the neighborhood
  • 17 –  is the ban, further defining your position on the street
  • 6  – has no name, it is exact location of your house or building.

English style is like this. Instead of bigger to smaller, it goes smaller to bigger, starting with the recipient’s name.

4F Nakato Marunouchi Bldg. 3-17-6 Marunouchi, Naka-ku Nagoya 460-0002 Japan