There are two different answers to “How do I address an envelope in Japan?” The correct layout depends on where the letter enters the postal system:

  1. Mailing within Japan: copy the recipient’s Japanese address exactly and use a domestic envelope layout.
  2. Sending to Japan from another country: use a Roman-letter address block that ends with JAPAN, unless your postal service’s label specifies another order.

Do not translate or rearrange an address just because it looks unfamiliar. Preserve every number, the building name, and the room number. If the recipient supplied both Japanese and Roman-letter versions, use the version requested by the postal service that accepts your letter.

Format 1: addressing a horizontal envelope within Japan

For domestic mail, the safest approach is to copy the Japanese address exactly as the recipient provided it. Japanese addresses normally run from the largest area to the smallest: postal code, prefecture, municipality, neighborhood, numeric block and building information, then the recipient.

Use this order for the main address block:

〒112-0001
東京都文京区白山4丁目3-2
[建物名] [部屋番号]
[受取人の氏名] 様

The example is a layout, not a person’s complete address. Replace every bracketed field and confirm the final block with the recipient.

Domestic, horizontal envelope: the stamp is at the upper-right of the front, the recipient block occupies the center, and the smaller return-address block sits near the bottom of the back.

On a horizontal envelope:

  • Put the recipient’s address and name in the center area of the front.
  • Put the stamp at the upper-right. Japan Post describes the rule as the upper-left position when the envelope is turned into its vertical orientation.
  • Put your return address and name in a smaller block on the lower part of the back.
  • Keep the recipient’s name visually larger than the address.

Japan Post’s illustrated guidance shows both front and back placement for horizontal and vertical envelopes. Check the official envelope-addressing examples if you are using a traditional vertical envelope.

If you cannot write Japanese

Ask the recipient to send you one complete address block that you can print or copy. This is safer than converting the address one part at a time.

The Universal Postal Union’s Japan addressing guide notes that Japanese addresses written only in Roman script may require manual sorting. If you have only a Roman-letter version for domestic mail, preserve the numeric sequence, include the full building and room information, and ask at a post-office counter when any part is uncertain.

Format 2: sending a letter to Japan from overseas

For mail entering Japan from another country, a Western-style Roman-letter block is easy for the origin postal service to route. The Universal Postal Union’s Japan guide accepts an order that starts with the most specific details and ends with the country.

Use this structure:

[RECIPIENT NAME]
[ROOM NUMBER], [BUILDING NAME]
4-3-2, HAKUSAN
BUNKYO-KU, TOKYO
112-0001
JAPAN

International mail to Japan: keep the sender separate, place the destination in the main address area, and leave the postage or carrier label where your origin postal service requires it.

Write JAPAN clearly on the last line. Keep the seven-digit postal code in the 123-4567 format, with a hyphen after the third digit.

Japan Post’s English international-label guidance uses Roman letters and Arabic numbers and separates the sender and recipient blocks. That page concerns international labels sent from Japan, but its warnings are useful in either direction: do not place the sender and recipient side by side in a way that makes them easy to confuse, and use a light label when a dark envelope makes the address hard to read.

Always follow the mandatory fields and placement printed on your own country’s postal or courier label. The block above explains the Japanese destination address; it does not replace the carrier’s form.

How to read the numeric part

A sequence such as 4-3-2 is not necessarily a Western street number. Depending on the location, it can represent the chōme, block, and building number.

The useful rule is simple: copy the sequence exactly. Do not reverse it, remove a number, or invent a street name. The UPU guide explains that Japanese locations are generally identified through geographic areas and blocks rather than sequential numbers along a named street.

Apartment and building details

An apartment address is incomplete when the building or unit cannot be identified. Include all of the following details the recipient gives you:

  • building name;
  • tower or wing, when present;
  • floor, when it is part of the stated address;
  • room or unit number;
  • recipient’s full name.

For a domestic Japanese block, the building and room normally sit after the numeric address and before the recipient’s name. In a Roman-letter international block, Japan Post places the building and room near the recipient, above the area and municipality lines.

Do not translate a building name unless the recipient has supplied an established Roman spelling. A phonetic guess can turn one building into another.

Which honorific should you use?

For domestic Japanese mail to an individual, add 様 (sama) after the person’s full name unless the recipient gave you a different formatted name.

For a company, department, or other organization without a named individual, 御中 (onchū) is commonly used instead. Do not stack both honorifics onto one addressee. Japan Post’s domestic envelope guide specifically warns against combinations such as a department followed by both 御中 and a person’s 様.

On an international Roman-letter label, use the recipient’s name as they supplied it. The essential task is accurate identification, not translating a Japanese honorific.

Where to put the return address

Your return address must be distinct from the destination.

For domestic mail in a horizontal envelope, Japan Post places the sender’s smaller address block within roughly the lower third of the back. Include your postal code, complete address, building and room, and name.

For an international label, follow the origin postal service’s FROM and TO fields. Japan Post warns that reversing or crowding the two blocks can delay or misdirect international mail.

Final check before adding postage

Read the envelope once as if you had never seen the address before:

  1. Is this the domestic-Japan format or an international-to-Japan format?
  2. Are all seven postal-code digits present?
  3. Is the full numeric sequence unchanged?
  4. Are the building name and room number included?
  5. Is the recipient’s full name present?
  6. Can the destination and return address be distinguished immediately?
  7. Is the writing dark and readable against the envelope?
  8. For international mail, is JAPAN clearly visible?

If one answer is no, fix it before sealing the envelope. If you are unsure whether the address itself is valid, ask the recipient to confirm it; formatting a block does not prove that a person or room is registered there.

Addressed? Finish the mailing steps

Once the address is complete, seal the envelope before measuring or weighing it. Tape, labels, enclosures, and the envelope itself all count toward the finished weight.

For mail sent within Japan, use the Japan Postage Calculator to check the current domestic category and price from the sealed size and weight. The companion guide, How to mail a letter in Japan, covers stamps, mailboxes, counters, and optional services after the address is ready.

Sources checked

Sources reviewed September 11, 2026. Postal forms and carrier requirements can change, so follow the printed instructions on a current label when they differ.