Where the Streets Have No Name – Literally
Have you ever said to a friend, “Let’s meet on Main Street”? Well, in Japan, that kind of conversation simply doesn’t happen. To put it plainly, Japanese streets lack names in the way Westerners are accustomed to. Instead, a complex addressing system is in place, where addresses are articulated by prefecture (akin to U.S. states), followed by the city, district, and ultimately, the block.
It’s quite the opposite of the Western norm. There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as in Kyoto, but generally speaking, Japan, as Bono sang, is a place “Where the Streets Have No Name.”