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Base registry for address

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Base registry for address is an address and location-related database developed as a base registry *.

*The legal name of the base registry is defined as "Public Basic Information Database".

Announcements

  • June 30, 2025
    • On June 1, 2025, the official version of the data was released.

Contents

Background of Efforts

Address and location information is used as an item in many public and private ledgers, including personal addresses and the locations of corporations and public facilities. Addresses and locations have a structure as shown in Figure 1. At present, there are two different systems regarding addresses and locations: the Real Estate Registration Act and the Residential Registration Act, and the government does not manage them in an integrated manner. This is a structural problem. Therefore, various entities, mainly in private sector, are individually developing address and location information, and the following problems have arisen.

  1. Duplication of costs across society
    Multiple entities maintain and update the same address and location information in a similar manner, resulting in redundant costs.
  2. Burden of information collection / provision
    Since each entity individually collects information from administrative organs, there is an opinion that not only the collecting side but also the providing side of administrative organs feel a burden.
  3. Lack of data compatibility
    In addition to the difficulty of linking the indication of residence and the lot number, as a result of the individual maintenance of each main body, it is easy to cause notation fluctuation, making it difficult to link and integrate data between systems.
Figure 1
Figure 1: Illustration showing addresses with and without residential indication.

Overview of Initiatives

Since fiscal 2021, we have published CSV data in the form of a test version using address and location-related data * held by the government.

*Digital Japan Basic Map (place name information) (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan), location reference information (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), and map attached to a registry office (Ministry of Justice)

In addition, since FY 2023, the Digital Ad Hoc Administrative Investigation Committee and other bodies have examined the ideal way of development and compiled guidelines for the development of data up to town characters. Based on these guidelines, in June 2025, we released accurate town character data that had been confirmed by local governments. Since then, we have been collecting and providing updated information from local governments as needed in order to keep the data up-to-date in cooperation with related ministries and agencies such as Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. (For details, please refer to 's "Plan for Development and Improvement of Public Basic Information Database" , which was decided by the Cabinet on June 13, 2025.)

* "Machi-aza" refers to "machi or aza" in the Local Autonomy Act.

In addition, regarding the town data of base registry for address, it is stipulated that it shall be used in the data requirements and linkage requirements in the unification and standardization of the core business systems of local public entities. To be specific, it is stipulated that in the data item "address _ town code" of each system in the standard specifications of the unification and standardization data requirements and linkage requirements of the core business systems of local public entities in , "the code value of the town IDs specified in the ' town master data set' prepared by Digital Agency shall be set". base registry for address

The base registry for address table has a hierarchical structure as shown in Fig. 2. At present, we have completed the compilation up to the town (character information).

The Expert Committee for the Promotion of the Base Registry is currently considering the policy for the development of town characters (map information) and lot numbers and residential indications (character information and map information). Please note that the currently published data are experimental versions.

Please use it from the "Registry Catalog" .

Figure 2
The table for base registry for address consists of a hierarchical structure (from top to bottom: prefecture, city, ward, town, address / block, address / residence, and lot number). At present, data up to prefecture, city, ward, town, and town (character information) are surrounded by blue frames, and address / block, address / residence, and lot number are surrounded by gray frames, as they are not yet developed.

Future Development

The Expert Committee for the Promotion of the Base Registry is considering policies for the development of town characters (map information) and lot numbers and residential indications (character information and map information). For details, please refer to the Base Registry page.

Efforts to promote the use of base registry for address

In addition to the CSV format, ABR Geocoder (ABR stands for base registry for address), a tool for normalizing addresses and geocoding (assigning location coordinates), is available as open source software on base registry for address in in .

By using the ABR Geocoder, you can reduce the effort of matching and collating address and location-related data, or display data containing address and location strings on a digital map. For more information, see the ABR Geocoder description page .

Considerations for Choji Data

Please note that there are points to note when using the "Choji Data" confirmed by the local government that has been released as an official version. Details are posted in the notice in the registry catalog, so please check it.

Historical information