1. Put the address in international mailing order
A Japanese domestic address runs from the largest area toward the smallest. For international mail, Japan Post’s examples put the recipient and specific delivery details first, followed by the city or ward, prefecture and postal code, with JAPAN on the final line.
- Recipient name
- Room, building, block and neighborhood
- Ward or city
- Prefecture and postal code
- JAPAN
2. Identify every address component
110-0005東京都 / Tokyo台東区 / Taito-ku上野 / Ueno7-1-1ABC Bldg. 2033. Keep building and room details together
A postal code and street-level number do not identify an apartment. Put the room number with the building name near the beginning, for example Room 203, ABC Building, 7-1-1 Ueno.
Preserve hyphenated block numbers such as 7-1-1. If the source address uses chome explicitly, a form such as Ueno 7-chome 1-1 can also work, but do not create missing components.
4. Romanize place names without inventing translations
Use official or recipient-confirmed Roman spellings for the prefecture, municipality, ward, neighborhood, and building. Suffixes such as -shi (city) and -ku (ward) can help preserve the address structure.
A building’s proper name should normally be romanized, not translated. Automatic conversion can format known components, but it cannot verify that a building exists or choose an authoritative spelling for every proper name.
5. Avoid common address mistakes
- Leaving out the recipient name or room number.
- Dropping or rearranging numbers from the Japanese source address.
- Guessing place or building spellings instead of confirming them.
- Assuming a seven-digit postal code supplies the complete address.
- Omitting a clear JAPAN line from international mail.
Frequently asked questions
Do I reverse a Japanese address in English?
For international mail, write smaller address units first and larger units later, ending with the prefecture, postal code, and JAPAN.
Should I translate a building name?
Use the building’s official Roman spelling when available. Romanize a proper name rather than inventing an English translation.
Where does the apartment number go?
Put the room or apartment number with the building name near the beginning of the international address.
Does the postal code identify the full address?
No. It usually identifies an area, but you must still include the neighborhood, chome or block, building, and room details needed to reach the recipient.