Japanese Police Boxes (Koban – 交番)
 A police box in Ueno Park, Tokyo
|
Police boxes (Koban – 交番) – are ubiquitous in Tokyo – every neighborhood has one:
In direct contact with the people… are the kobans (police boxes in urbanized areas) and chuzaishos (police boxes in rural areas)… There are approximately 6,600 kobans and 9,000 chuzaishos in Japan… A chuzaisho’s jurisdiction may encompass up to 18 square miles and service 3,000 people. A koban typically services 0.22 square miles with a population of 8,500… Unlike the U.S. which centers police activity around the patrol car, Japanese police activity centers around the koban. In Tokyo, the official minimum complement for each koban is 12 officers… Much like their patrol car driving American counterparts, these officers patrol the neighborhood (however they do so on foot or bicycle), respond to calls of distress, and assist detectives or national agents in whatever project they may have.
There are a couple things that make the kobans so distinctive. One is their architecture. Most are small, ordinary-looking buildings, but some have a great deal of flair, as you can see in my pictures. The Japan Visitor blog has some more pictures, as well as a history of kobans.
 A police box in Kawagoe
|
 A police box in rural Aomori
|
The other distinctive quality is the community policing aspect of kobans:
Japanese neighborhoods look upon their koban officers as a just and kind “big brother”. Often, koban officers are asked to arbitrate disputes that would end up as court cases here in the U.S. Throughout the day, citizens will stop into the koban to relate their experiences or seek advice about this or that. While on patrol, koban officers engage in casual conversation with anyone who happens to be around. By establishing this friendly atmosphere, the koban officers ease concerns that the populace may have and establish an environment where citizens are more willing to assist in criminal investigations. This attitude is distinctly different from the U.S. where it is considered disgraceful to “snitch” on another person and the police appear as an authoritative force which only presents itself when there is trouble.
When I was in Ueno Park one day with the boys, and they were arguing over who’s turn it was to play with a toy, a police officer intervened. As an American, my first thought at seeing a police officer coming right towards us was that we were in trouble for, well…, something. But instead he came to resolve the dispute by giving them each a piece of candy and a pat on the head.
Since crime rates in Japan are so low, and violent crime is rare, the police do not carry guns. Aside from their neighborhood foot patrols, the primary daily activity of the police in kobans is to give directions. This is actually a non-trivial function, as it’s sometimes impossible to find addresses in major Japanese cities. Most streets don’t have names, and building numbers are assigned based partly on location, and partly on when the building was constructed, resulting in an addressing system that is often just as mystifying to the Japanese as it is to foreigners.
Kobans were in the news last week in Japan, as they now allow female officers to work the night shift. When we lived in Tokyo, we occasionally saw female officers during the day, but never at night.
Update: the page I linked above for my quotes just disappeared from the web. At least for now, it’s still accessible in the Google cache.
