Question 1

Why is there no phone number?

Accepted Answer

Because Japan has no officially reserved fictitious range. The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and France have each designated number blocks that will never be assigned to a subscriber; Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications never has. Producers there avoid conflicts by choosing improbable numbers under guidance from the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization. Since no guaranteed-safe number exists, this tool leaves the field empty rather than inventing one.

Question 2

Why does the address read in the opposite order?

Accepted Answer

Japanese addresses go from the largest unit to the smallest: prefecture, then ward or city, then the chōme, banchi and gō numbers identifying a block and a building. There are usually no street names at all, which is why address forms designed around a "street address" field often handle Japan badly.

Question 3

What is the 〒 symbol?

Accepted Answer

It is the Japanese postal mark, written before the postal code. The code itself is seven digits split three-then-four with a hyphen, as in 〒100-0001. On a form the mark is usually printed as a label rather than typed into the field.