Characters for the City instead of English / Shipping Concerns

-- HikaShop version -- : 2.6.4
-- Joomla version -- : 3.6.2
-- PHP version -- : 5.6
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : All
-- Error-message(debug-mod must be tuned on) -- : n/a

Hello,

I have a hikashop website that ships around the world. We are having two issues:

1. The State is showing up as characters in certain countries (ie: Japan). Since many of the Japanese orders are handled in house, the staff needs to be able to read and select the state which they cannot do. I only have English installed under languages. Here's a screenshot of the backend and frontend:

2. The second issue is that the store only uses USPS for mail. The plugin is working well, except that occasionally a user will enter an address that USPS doesn't recognize or perhaps the weight of the order is too much for USPS to ship to. In this case, the customer gets no shipping option. Even so, the Place My Order button appears. They don't get a message. The customer clicks to place the order and either thinks it has been completed or gets frustrated and calls or sends and email. I have system messages enabled for the template and I've tested that they work. My feeling is that the Place my Order button should not appear if shipping has not been resolved. Furthermore, there should be a dialogue box for USPS to guide the customer so they understand why shipping is not available for their location and/or weight/volume. This way, the customer can be advised to call to place their order. Please advise on how we can fix this. I'm getting about 30 orders a day and 1/10th are having this issue.

Thanks for you help,

Dawn