Tips for translating addresses from Japanese-English

[Former_Member]

Hi there!

I sell to Japanese customers and they usually enter their shipping address in Japanese. Of course I always email them via Etsy to ask for their name and address in English for the sake of mailing their purchase, but 9 times of out 10 I never get a reply (maybe this is due to the language barrier).

I am looking for tips for translating an address in an alphabet other than this one I'm typing in! :)

I have tried google maps, google translate, and plain old google but it doesn't always work, and also how do I know it is correct?

Luckily I have had a lovely customer in Japan who I email whenever I'm stuck (he always replies) but I feel like I am taking advantage of his good nature. Fortunately, I only email him once a month, but I still feel guilty.

Hoping that etsy sellers with more experience may be able to help.

Cheers folks!
shirley

[AnimeLovers]

Hi Shirley,

I know translating Japanese addresses online can be difficult from my own experience too. I'll try to offer some tips from what I've learned but I'm no expert.

First think of a Japanese address like a bullseye - it starts at the broader city (i.e. tokyo) and zooms in to a specific building or house number. Also, addresses have kanji that can help you decipher them:

-Zip code 〒 followed by 7 digit number xxx-xxxx, at beginning of the address
-Prefecture 県 but can be 都 for Tokyo, 道 for Hokkaidō, 府 for Osaka/Kyoto
-City (shi) 市 - might be omitted
-Ward (ku) 区
-District (chome) 丁目
-City block 番
-House number 号
-If the house number refers to an apartment building an apartment number might be added

example:

〒 150-0041 東京渋谷区神南1丁目22-14

Zip code: 〒 150-0041
City: 東京 - this is Tokyo
Ward (ku): 渋谷区 -look for 区- this is Shibuya-ku
District: 神南 [Jinnan]
Chome: 1 丁目
Building number: 22
Apt: 14

Once you dissected the address into pieces (zip code, ward, district, chome, house number) you can try to decipher the kanji. I use diddlefinger.com to look up the address by zip code (〒 xxx-xxxx). This will give you the district, ward, and city in english and the map can help you double check the kanji. If I can't find it on the map I will type the ward and the district in english in google or wikipedia and compare the kanji translations with my address.

To write it in english just reverse the order:
1-22-14 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-0041 Japan

Hopefully someone with more experience will be able to offer better guidance though since the address system is a bit complex and I'm not very familiar with it. Best of luck :)

[AnimeLovers]

opps! I skipped the city block - it should be:

Zip code: 〒 150-0041
City: 東京 - this is Tokyo
Ward (ku): 渋谷区 -look for 区- this is Shibuya-ku
District: 神南 [Jinnan]
Chome: 1 丁目
city block: 22
building number: 14

Written in Japanese:
150-0041 Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jinnan 1-chome, 22-14

I also found an article that explains this a lot better:
http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/addresses.html

Hope this helps ^_^

[fleursjolies]

Thank you many times for the thorough explanation!

thaNk you

[cindylouwho2]

I just cut & paste the address into a shipping label, then add the country in English so Canada Post knows how to sort it. Once it gets to its destination country, they know how to deal with it :)

( I have done this with Japan more than once - no problems)

[Former_Member]

that's what I have done too, Cindy. Why would a non-japanese mail service need to read anything other than japan? royal mail are only going to take my parcel to the airport, they're not going to take it the rest of the way - and why would we expect the japanese mail service to read english?

[Former_Member]

Nifty and Cindy, you are of course so right!!! Why didn't I think of that? Oh dear, it's so obvious now I think about it. Thank you!

Also a huge thank you to Nat-hime, you gave me more information than I could have hoped for! I will cut and paste your comments for my future use (and also I need to read them a few times till I can get the hang of the address system ;)).

Thank you everyone, it's great to know the etsy community is out there for us (almost) newbies!

shirls

[Former_Member]

LOL Shirley I'm glad you took it like that, I was just wondering if my comment would come across as downright rude (or british, depending on your point of view)

[Former_Member]

I'm a Scot living in Canada, Nifty, and would you believe I actually miss the Royal Mail at times? Words I never thought I would say ;)
Seriously, thanks for the advice about the address, it really makes so much sense! :)

[TigersandDragons]

I've read in the forums that some American sellers have problems with Etsy and Paypal shipping accepting addresses that are not in roman characters. I haven't used these services myself, so am unaware if it is an issue for Canadian sellers printing their own postage.using these services.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the heads up TigersandDragons! I think what I'll do to be safe is print out the address as written by the buyer in japanese, and also, if I am able to get an english translation, I will use that too. At least there's two chances that it will reach its destination I hope! :)