Abstract: A navigation system stores setting record information related to places designated as destination or reached place. The setting record information includes setting frequencies with which corresponding places were designated. A control unit searches a map database for places meeting a keyword inputted by a user and causes a display unit to present the places in the descending order of their corresponding setting frequencies in the stored setting record information. The user then selects as a destination a certain place from the presented places. The control unit stores the selected certain place to update the setting record information. Thus, the names of places meeting the keyword inputted are directly displayed in the descending order of the setting frequency with which they have been designated in the past. Therefore, the user need not perform an operation to hierarchically select a desired place by region or facility name.

Abstract: A navigation system stores setting record information related to places designated as destination or reached place. The setting record information includes setting frequencies with which corresponding places were designated. A control unit searches a map database for places meeting a keyword inputted by a user and causes a display unit to present the places in the descending order of their corresponding setting frequencies in the stored setting record information. The user then selects as a destination a certain place from the presented places. The control unit stores the selected certain place to update the setting record information. Thus, the names of places meeting the keyword inputted are directly displayed in the descending order of the setting frequency with which they have been designated in the past. Therefore, the user need not perform an operation to hierarchically select a desired place by region or facility name.

Abstract: A searching device of the present invention searches a sub-facility included in a large compound facility based on information stored in the device. A large compound facility is first searched, and then a sub-facility included in the large compound is searched if a user specifies the sub-facility. The user may specify the sub-facility to be searched by inputting certain keywords even when he/she does not know the exact name of the sub-facility. The searching device may be advantageously included in a navigation system such as a car navigation system. The specified sub-facility included in a large compound facility may be set as a target destination and a driving route from a starting point to the target destination can be exactly calculated.