Kōban Police Stations In Japan

Above, the kōban near the entrance to Asakusa's Nakamise Street.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan is one of the safest countries to visit. The Japanese people are one of the most honest you can find. This doesn't mean that crime is non-existent in Japan. If it were, they'd have no need for police.

If you should be on vacation in Japan and have the need to contact the police, there are neighborhood "police boxes" or "kōban" for people in need to talk to police officers.

According to Wikipedia:

A kōban (交番, kōban^?) is a small neighborhood police station found in Japan. Kōban also refers to the smallest organizational unit in today's Japanese police system. In addition to central police stations, Japanese uniformed police work is done from small buildings located within the community, a form of community policing. As of 2007^[update], there are about 6,000 kōban all over Japan. Since the 1990s, many of them are found with signs in Roman letters: "Koban."

During my travels to Japan, I have seen several kōban stations. Fortunately, I have never had the need for the Japanese police. If you need one, but don't know where the one nearest to you is, ask a local shopkeeper or business and they can direct you there.