"[she] becomes virtually helpless in Japan."

I am getting ready to get lost. I certainly do not mind being lost-- a few summers ago, I spent occasional afternoons driving the Connecticut coast, meandering through little villages, and eventually finding Route 9 again. I would choose a different CD for each drive, and would not begin to worry until I heard the first track repeat itself.

But this is something else. One of my books (Japan made easy, Boye Lafayette De Mente...a name implying greater familiarity with another destination) says the following:

No matter how brilliant or accomplished the foreign visitor might be in his own culture, he becomes virtually helpless in Japan...the addressing system in Japan has nothing whatsoever to do with any street the house or building might be on or near. Addresses are based on areas rather than streets. In metropolitan areas these "address areas" start out with the city. Next comes the ku, or ward, then a smaller district called cho, and finally a still smaller section called banchi.

C and I have been looking up directions and maps to our various destinations, and have found one shockingly consistent landmark to use an an indication of cardinal direction, where to turn, or when to stop, recommended by ryokan after guidebook after city planning map...

...the ubiquitous 7-eleven.

What?!