Need help with Japan’s postal code!

hi, i have a question to ask. recently, my penpal has given me her address so that we can exchange snail mails. however, i am still quite confused about the postal code part. according to the 'Postal Information' page on this website, we must write(for example): Tokyo 123-4567
however, my penpal gave me her postal code as(obviously not the real one =P): 123-4567 JAPAN

i was wondering if it is wrong as it just says JAPAN, and does not indicate a specific part of japan. i am afraid that it would be sent to a wrong place if i were to write it wrongly... is the postal code that my penpal gave me correct?

anybody who knows the answer, please tell me! loads of thanks! ^^

Its difficult to answer without knowing if she actually gave you a city or whatever.

However it is NORMAL if sending an internationa letter to have the country name following the Postal Code,

For example:

Person's Name
123-4 Yokkaichiba, Isawa-Cho
Fuefuki-Shi, Yamanashi-ku
123-4567 JAPAN

"JAPAN" can also be written under the postal code:
123-4567
JAPAN

whatever version does not matter.

Can you give a full example of what address she gave you?

Of course you can replace the address numbers with just

123-4567 and her name with NAME. Showing us the format she gave you the address we can help a bit more.

ok, thanks btw. ^^

NAME
1234-5 DEMOBOU
fujishi Shizuoka-ken
123-4567 JAPAN

this is how it is. it looks very confusing for me... @.@

NAME
1234-5 DEMOBOU
fujishi Shizuoka-ken
123-4567 JAPAN

Actually it looks quite right.
You might want to add a dash to Fujishi so it appears as Fuji-Shi

But everything looks good.

NAME (Persons name)
1234-5 DEMOBOU (Street address)
fujishi (city) Shizuoka-ken (prefecture)
123-4567 (postal code) JAPAN (country)

Address contains all the information you need to send a letter.

NAME
1234-5 Denbou
Fuji-shi, Shizuoka-ken
123-4567 JAPAN

With just minor corrections :) The address you have looks fine. "-shi" is for "...City," and "-ken" is "....Prefecture." The "Tokyo" in the example is equivalent to "Shizuoka-ken," the name of the prefecture.

It does not really matter exactly where the 7-digit number is in the address, as long as it is somewhere close to "Japan" or prefecture name, because the 7-digit numbers are assigned nationwide. And I think each number is assigned to small enough a section of town (in this case "Denbou" bit), so that, in the worst case, as long as you have: "the recipient's name, street/house number (1234-5 in this case), postal code (123-4567), and Japan," the letter will be delivered to the right place.

okay! i finally understand. thanks guys! :D

address: XXX-XX higashinokuchi terada
Jyoyo ,kyoto city
Japan..

What is the postal code?

address: XXXX-XXX higashinokuchi terada
Jyoyo ,kyoto city

The above address is incorrect, it should be:
XXXX-XXX Higashinokuchi, Terada,
Joyo-shi, Kyoto-fu
610-0121 Japan
(It is not Kyoto-city/Kyoto-shi but Joyo-city/Joyo-shi. There's Kyoto-city within Kyoto-prefecture.)

610-0121 is the postal code.

i want a postal zip code copy around japan because my letter no zip code number in home,i can you copy me a zip code home around japan.thank you.

Jonathan,

You can look up Japanese postal codes here...
http://yubin.senmon.net/en/

The website Dave in Saitama kindly mentioned is rather poorly constructed. The 5 digits that appear first are not real zip codes. You must click the appropriate digits (I have no idea what they mean) and then the real zip codes, 3 digits hyphen 4 digits further claasified by local areas, will appear. You must use them.

The website Dave quoted is quite alright - you choose the prefecture first (listed in alphabetical order), then the city or the ward (again listed in alphabetical order), then the town, etc., then you get to the 7-digit postal code.

The 5-digit numbers that appear along the city/ward names after you've chosen the prefecture are "JIS Code" as they say, maybe simply for their internal classification - ignore those, just click :)

I need the postal code for the following address of a friend:

Shibaura Island, Bloom Tower ####
20-2, 4-Chome
Minato-Ku, Tokyo

Looks like 108-0023.

http://yubin.senmon.net/en/1080023.html