Japan Post launches 'digital address' system

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Why Japan Is Seen as a Good Fit

  • Many commenters note that Japanese physical addressing is unusually hard for humans and software:
    • Areas (chome → block → building) numbered by build order, non-contiguous, often no street names.
    • Multiple buildings can share similar numeric sub-addresses; building names matter and are messy.
    • Historically, people relied on local knowledge, paper maps, and later GPS; delivery drivers still struggle.
  • Online forms are especially painful: inconsistent fields, full‑width vs half‑width characters, kanji vs kana vs romaji, varying expectations for dashes and symbols. Browser autocomplete often fails badly.
  • Comparisons: Bulgaria (block-based), Ireland’s Eircode, US ZIP+4(+2), Netherlands/UK postcodes, plus codes, what3words; Japan is described as an especially strong candidate for an abstraction layer.

What the Digital Address Actually Is

  • It’s generally interpreted as a short, stable, alphanumeric identifier that expands to a full physical address on participating websites — more like a DNS name or URL shortener than a new postal code.
  • Current design:
    • Users register via Japan Post; get a 7‑character code (Latin alphanumerics).
    • Entering the code in an e‑commerce form fetches and displays the full address for confirmation.
    • The code can stay the same across moves if the user updates their address with Japan Post.
    • Codes can be deleted and reissued; system rate-limits lookups; address data is separated from other personal data.
  • Commenters emphasize this mostly simplifies input and address changes, not the physical routing process (which still uses the resolved address).

Convenience vs. Privacy and Security

  • Enthusiastic views:
    • Dramatically easier address entry in Japan’s chaotic form ecosystem.
    • Single point to update after a move instead of changing dozens of merchant records.
    • Potential to reduce errors, misdeliveries, and to enable “follow-me” deliveries for long lead-time items.
  • Privacy concerns:
    • A stable identifier that follows a person/household can become a stalking or tracking vector if widely recorded and resolvable.
    • Japan Post itself notes that anyone who learns a code may be able to determine the address, and random guessing might reveal some addresses.
  • Some propose alternative designs:
    • True intermediary model where merchants never see the address, only the code; carriers resolve it at dispatch time.
    • OAuth-style API where users grant and revoke address access per service.
    • Throwaway or multiple codes (home, work, temporary) to combat spam and limit linkage.
  • Skeptics argue the current model pushes complexity and risk onto everyone (sites must handle revocations; users must remember to rotate), while not fully solving spam or privacy.

Relations to IDs, National Systems, and Analogies

  • Several see this as akin to:
    • A “mail DNS” or URN for people/households.
    • Sweden’s SPAR (central person/address registry) or US ZIP+4+2 extended addressing.
  • In Japan-specific context, commenters link it to the MyNumber digital ID ecosystem, noting plans to tie address changes across systems and raising classic “public SSN-like identifier” worries.
  • Overall sentiment mixes:
    • Strong positive reactions from people dealing daily with Japanese addresses.
    • Cautious optimism from those who like the indirection pattern.
    • Ongoing skepticism about long-term privacy, enumeration risks, and cultural acceptance of another semi-permanent personal identifier.