The act of specifying where a place is, is done very differently in the United States then in Japan. In America it is done as if we are constantly zooming in on a grid like system, we use the cardinal directions, and orders to specify locations. Japan specifies places as if you are zooming all the way into the nucleus of a specific cell on someone, and feels more like constant elimination.
Americans are use to a grid like system. To locate my favorite Thai Restaurant at Home …
North America is located in the northern/western hemisphere. The United States is in the center of North America. Colorado is located near the middle of the country, in the western region of the United States. Boulder is located northwest of Denver, and just west of the Rocky Mountains. Aloy Thai is located at 2720 Canyon Blvd. Once the city has been found in the United States, it is sufficient to just give the address after that, because street numbers are sequential, street names are relatively alphabetical, and house numbers are sequential, with the use of a map, and a general understanding, it would be quite simple to find the location of that restaurant.
Finding where something is in Japan an entirely different story. To get to our house you would have to do the following.
Our Address for reference, written in Japanese Style, but in English Lettering
409-0112
Yamanashi-ken Uenohara-shi Uenohara 634-1
Sato Kashiya
Japan is made up of 5 main Islands. Ben and I live on the largest island called Honshu. We are located in the Chubo region, the central region of the main island. We live in Yamanashi, one of the 47 prefectures (indicated by ken) of Japan. In Yamanashi we live in the Uenohara municipality (indicated by shi). In the Uenohara city. In Uenohara city we live in the shinmachi district. In Shinmachi we live in 634 which is our block number. Sato Kashiya is the name of our building. Check out below to see this represented in pictures.
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| Honshu Island |
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| Chubo Region |
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| Yamanashi prefecture |
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| Uenohara Municipality |
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| Uenohara City |
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| Shinmachi |
Our House
Awesome! Now I get to stalk you.
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