Japan (JPN)

This section defines the supported geocoding datasets, operations, and input and output field information for Japan.

Supported Geocoding Datasets

The following table lists the supported geocoding dataset(s) with the available geocoding levels for Japan.

Note: Custom User Dictionaries are not supported.
Geocoding Dataset City Centroid Suburb/Village Centroid Postal Centroid Street Centroid Interpolated Street Address Point-level Address Point of Interest
IPC Kanji, Latin Kanji Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes

Supported Operations

The following operations are supported for Japan:
  • Geocoding—Takes one or more addresses as input and returns latitude/longitude coordinates and other information.
  • Reverse Geocoding—Takes one or more latitude and longitude coordinates as input and returns the address of the location.
  • Interactive Geocoding— Returns potential match candidates as the adddress is typed in.
  • Global Key Lookup—Returns geocode candidates when given a unique key as input. USA MLD and AUS GNAF data only.

Input Fields

Japanese addresses may contain some or all of the following address elements.

Parameter Type Description
placeName String This field is not used.
mainAddress String Single Line input—If no other field is populated, then the mainAddress entry will be treated as a single line input. For details on single line input for Japanese addresses, see the section "Single Line Format" below.

Street Address—The block and lot number.
lastLine String The last line of the address. Optional.
areaName1 String Specifies the prefecture. Optional.
areaName2 String Specifies the city (shi). Optional.
areaName3 String Specifies the municipality subdivision (oaza). Optional.
areaName4 String Specifies the city district (chome). Optional.
postalCode String Japan uses a seven-digit numeric postal code system in the format: 999-9999. Optional.
country String The three-letter ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 country code. For Japan, the country code is JPN. Required for forward geocoding.

Address Guidelines for Japan

For information on Japanese addresses, see the Japan Post website: http://www.post.japanpost.jp.

A typical Japanese address looks like this:



The elements of this address are described in the following table.

Address Element

Field Name

Example

Prefecture

areaName1

City (Shi)

areaName2

Municipality Subdivision (Oaza)

areaName3

City District (Chome)

areaName4

Block/lot number

mainAddress

Block and lot numbers are the most specific address elements in Japan. Japanese addresses typically do not have street names.

For multiline addresses in Kanji, the general pattern is to enter the postal code on the first line. On the second line, enter the other address elements starting from largest (prefecture) to smallest. The name of the recipient, business, or organization is entered on the third line. For example:

For multiline addresses using Western conventions, the order of address elements is reversed. For example:

Tokyo Central Post Office
5-3, Yaesu 1-Chome
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 100-8994

Single Line Format

Japanese addresses are typically written in single line format, without any delimiters to separate address fields. The typical format is:

[prefecture][city][municipality subdivision][city district][block][lot][other]

Where:
  • prefecture = ken
  • city = shi
  • municipality subdivision = oaza
  • city district = chome
  • block = numbered city block (ban)
  • lot = sub blocks or building number (go)
  • other = building names, flat numbers, or other identifiers. This information is ignored by the Japan geocoder.
Note: Block and lot numbers are the most specific address elements in Japan. Japanese addresses typically do not have street names.
Example Single Line Japanese Addresses Description
Chome, block, and lot separated by a hyphens.
Block and lot separated by hyphen, chome indicated by chome identifier.
Chome, block, and lot separated by their identifiers.

Custom Options

There are no unique options for Japan.

Output Fields

The following table lists the address fields returned for a candidate located in Japan.

Note: The placeName, addressNumber, unitType and unitValue field values are only returned when a geocoding dataset that supports street address interpolation is installed.
Field Name Description
mainAddressLine The street address which may include company name, house number, building names and street names.
addressLastLine The last line of the address.
placeName The building name, place name, Point of Interest (POI), company or firm name associated with the address.
areaName1 The prefecture.
areaName2 The city (shi).
areaName3 The municipality subdivision (oaza).
areaName4 The city district (chome).
postCode1 The first part of the postcode.
postCode2 The second part of the postcode.
country The three-letter ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 country code. For Japan, the country code is JPN.
addressNumber The lot number.
streetName The street or road name.
unitType The unit type such as APT, STE, etc.
unitValue The unit value/number, such as "3B".
customFields See the following section for the custom field definitions.

Custom Output Fields

The following table lists the output fields that are unique for Japan. Unless otherwise noted, these fields can be returned for both forward and reverse geocoding.

Field Name Description
BANCHI The block number.
CHOMOKU The city block number.
CHOOAZA The number for a group of city blocks.
GO The house number.
JUSHO_CODE A point ID that represents a unique address.