What is a koban?

In Japan there is a very unique police presence in every neighborhood, the police box or as it is called here the koban (交番). The koban is much smaller than a police station and tends to handle a wide range of miscellaneous matters that come up. This can vary from someone asking for directions, lost or found items, traffic accidents, personal trouble, neighborhood problems such as noisy pets, and many other situations. Generally these are not issues that police normally handle, but many people go to kobans with such problems, as such the neighborhood police are kept very busy.

Koban Hotline

In addition, the neighborhood police work to maintain the public safety by carrying out routine patrols at all times of the day and week. Staff numbers at neighborhood koban are fairly limited so when the police are out of the police box for one reason or another no one is in attendance. At such times members of the public may utilize the phone in the koban, which is directly linked to the ward police station - a real “hotline”! Depending on the situation the ward police office may contact local police officers on patrol to respond thus increasing response time.

Foreign visitors to kobans

In Nagoya City alone there are 17 police stations and around 173 kobans Unfortunately due to the wide variety of issues in modern life there just aren’t enough police officers to handle all the problems that come up. Additionally due to the shrinking youth population more and more people from overseas have come to live and work in Japan. As such, many unforeseen issues and problems have started to arise. As the influx of foreign labor and immigrants will likely continue, police will have many new issues to deal with as they expect an increase in the use of kobans particularly by foreigners. Unfortunately the majority of police officers are not bilingual and many of the foreigners who visit the police boxes often do not speak Japanese, therefore communication difficulties arise. Finding ways to overcome language barriers presents a wide range of challenges to police officers. When a foreigner who does not speak Japanese enters a police box, officers first need to be able to assess the situation and know how to respond. Not being able to communicate creates frustration for both parties. Such simple tasks as offering directions can be handled by utilizing maps and gestures, but not for more complicated issues. In certain cases interpreters become necessary and on occasion police headquarters or embassies/ consulates must be consulted.