How to Read & Write a Japanese Address: Chome, Banchi & Go Explained

Quick answer (30 seconds): A Japanese address runs in the opposite order to a Western one — it goes from biggest area to smallest: prefecture → city/ward → district → block number → building number, then your name. The confusing part is the cluster like 2-3-5, which means chome 2, banchi 3, go 5 (district block 2, lot 3, building/unit 5). Streets usually have no names; you're located by block and lot instead. For most forms you'll write the address in this big-to-small order; when writing to or from abroad, you reverse it to small-to-big so foreign postal systems can read it. Always include the 7-digit postal code (〒) — it auto-fills the prefecture/city on most online forms.

ℹ️ Examples below use fictional addresses to illustrate the format. Your exact address (kanji, romaji spelling, and any building/room number) is shown on your residence record and your residence card — copy it from there for official forms.

The core idea: big to small

Western addresses start small (your house) and end big (the country). Japan does the reverse. A full address, in the order you'll write it on a Japanese form, looks like:

〒100-0001 Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Chiyoda 1-1-1, Sunshine Mansion 305

Reading left to right, that's:

1. 〒100-0001 — postal code
2. Tokyo-to (東京都) — prefecture (Tokyo is a to; others are ken, plus fu for Osaka/Kyoto and do for Hokkaido)
3. Chiyoda-ku (千代田区) — ward (large cities are split into ku; smaller places use shi = city, machi/cho = town, mura/son = village)
4. Chiyoda (千代田) — the district/area name
5. 1-1-1 — the chome-banchi-go cluster (explained next)
6. Sunshine Mansion 305 — building name and room number

Decoding "1-2-3": chome, banchi, go

That little number cluster is the heart of the system. Take an address ending in 2-3-5: