Japanese Kōban – Police Boxes for Safety and Help 24/7

As you know, Japan is known as the safest country in the world and I believe Kōban (small neighborhood police stations) all over Japan play an important role in our safe society.

Police officers stationed at kōban serve several roles:

1) Crime and accident reports :

When property crimes and traffic accidents should occur locally in the area, they take care of them and communicate with central police stations as necessary.

2) Maps and directions :

Although smart phones and cell phones provide a great variety of map and navigation service, many people still ask for directions. They are familiar with the local addresses, street layouts and addressing schemes.

3) Patrol :

They go around or through an area at regular intervals for security purposes by car or bicycle. They greatly serve to prevent crimes. Also they try to communicate with neighboring people by cheerful greeting. They also visit local elementary schools in an area for crime prevention lessons and share suspicious person or traffic accident information with children and their parents.

4) Lost and found :

They accept reports of lost items as well as found items from members of the public. Most Japanese people report to Koban if they find cash on the street. I can assure you lost items can be found with high probability.

5) Traffic control :

Traffic will normally get heavy on days of multiples of 5 or 10 every month. So, police officers direct traffic on such days at intersections or on site where car accident should occur.

In these says, police officers at Koban contribute to ensure security in our local community. There are more than 6,000 koban buildings all over Japan and they are getting a lot of attention worldwide these days!!