In Japan, a house number refers to a block, not to a
street. Actually, most streets don't even have a name, so you couldn't
use them to give a direction. An address in Tokyo follows a hierarchical
scheme, from the block up to the ward. Here is a typical one, followed
by an explanation of each component in it:
10-32, Akasaka 8 Chome, Minato-Ku, Tokyo
The whole system looks rational at first sight, but:
- Finding a block inside a district is often very difficult. You have
to wander between the blocks looking at the block number panels until you
find it. Your task is easier when the map indicates the block numbers. But
very often, outside central Tokyo, the map will only indicate the
district name, and you'll have to find the block yourself. Or your map
may be outdated...
- Inside the block, the houses are numbered according to when they were
built, not to where they are located in the block. House number #32 will
probably not stand by house number #33 or #34. You may have to turn around
the whole block before you find it.
On the whole, I think it's harder to find an address in Japan than in
Western countries. I may be biased by my Western origins but, in
European cities, you won't need to wander around blocks during fifteen
minutes if you have a good map with all street names and an index, unless
it's a streetless area built in the 60s or 70s. And the map will be
lighter in your pocket, because a good map of Tokyo is necessarily a 30- or
50-page book.
On the other hand, a Japanese address clearly indicates in which part
of the city you must go, and a Tokyo denizen can probably guess the
nearest underground station from the ward and district names.
TheLady tells me that a similar system is used in Israel, although the streets have names too.