Rant #2: Japanese Adresses

You American readers perfectly understand when I say 52 Smith Street, Cityfield, NY, right? Sounds like a straightfoward address. Understandable. Even if it's fake.

Ah but... what if you are in Japan? What if you are in a place... with NO STREET NAMES!?

No, this isn't some cheesy campfire horror story. This is reality. This is Japan.
The Japanese don't use street names. Streets aren't important enough to have their own names.

What the Japanese use is a precise to the house Zip code. Made of a city name and 3 numbers: area, block, and house number.
For example, Nihon Honshuu Toukyou Fuchuu 2-13-20 is the 20th house on the 13th block in the 2nd area of Fuchu city in the bigger city of Tokyo on the island of Honshu in Japan. I'm not exactly sure if the size order goes like that. But the number adress... yes.

Now... there is no order to these blocks without looking at a map! Fuchu 3-4 can be over there, with Fuchu 5-30 right over there and right behind you is Shiraitodai 6-12.
Really... you are in one block and you have no idea where the next one is!
Not to mention sometimes the block number sometimes isn't written on the block intersection.
Not to mention the mailboxes at the houses aren't numbered.
Not to mention only postmen and pizza delivery people seem to know how the address system works.

Really... how does this system work!? Houses aren't numbered, just named. Named with the Kanji family name! What if there are two families, in two different houses, side by side, same kanji in their names. One family is the Yamakuchi family, the other is the Yamaguchi family. You have to deliver a pizza to a family of those kanji... how do you know which house it is??? HOW DO YOU KNOW!?

Anyway. Do you know how easy it is to stumble onto any random block... but how just ****ing hard it is just to ****ing find Shiraitodai 6-12!? Dam you block 6-12... why was it so hard to find you!??

Maps. I couldn't find maps at the convenience store. Stations rarely even give train maps.

I'm fed up with this. I can never find anything. I have a poor sense of direction as it is. Today I even bought myself a compass. And oh please help me god I hope it points north.

Well, that's the end of my rant. I wonder if they a mapquest for Japan... in English... with city blocks printed on them.

Don't miss my next rant, where I pick apart the living daylights out of Japanese kanji!