Japan address toolkit
Two things everyone shipping to Japan needs: turn a full Japanese address (kanji) into a correctly ordered English label, and resolve postal codes to addresses — free, with an API. Competitors stop at zip→city; this converter handles the whole address.
Kanji address → English label
Free zip-code API (static, CORS, no key)
Shard files by the first 3 digits — fetch once, cache forever (data refreshes monthly):
| Endpoint | GET https://japan-warehouse-logistics.org/address/v1/zip/<first3>.json |
|---|---|
| Example | fetch('/address/v1/zip/160.json').then(r=>r.json()).then(j=>j.zips['1600023']) → {"pref":"東京都","city":"新宿区","town":"西新宿","pref_ro":"Tokyo","city_ro":"Shinjuku-ku","town_ro":"Nishishinjuku",…} |
| Convert API | GET /address/api/convert.json?q=<URL-encoded address> — full converter as JSON (30 req/min, 500/day per IP) |
Terms, short version: free, but pages/apps showing the data must link visibly to loreatec.jp — full text in the API terms. Postal data: Japan Post (no copyright asserted); romanization derived from Japan Post's roman file.