Dear Web Programmers: Not everyone has a ZIP code

I've been living in Japan for almost four years now. As an American citizen, I still have to do business with companies in America (bank accounts, IRS forms, etc.). I'm pretty sure that I speak for every ex-pat living outside of the US when I say:

STOP MAKING ME SELECT A STATE AND TYPE A FIVE DIGIT ZIP CODE!

I don't have a state... I live in Chiba. My postal code is 261-0013. What can I possibly put in the ZIP field that passes your ZIP validation code. Should I put all zeros? Put in the address for the White House?

Look, I know that coding for international characters and international addresses is more difficult. But, it is 2011 and the internet is getting kind of old. You have had time to realize that companies can do business in Korea, Thailand, or Japan almost as easy as doing business across state lines. Please do us all a big favor and copy the user interface of companies like Amazon. They actually understand....