Koban
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Kōban ( Japanese交 番) are small police houses in Japan . Over 6,000 can be found in communities and neighborhoods of urban areas (mostly near bus stops or busy entertainment centers) that are manned around the clock. There is usually a red light over the entrance.
The Kōban system was introduced in Tokyo in 1881, a few years after a general police system was established. The name "Kōban", which had been in use for a long time, only became official in 1994.
In rural areas, chuzaisho (駐 在 所) take over the tasks of the koban. In a chuzaisho there is always only one police officer who lives there with his family.
The Japanese police carry out local tasks from the kobans . In the office there are detailed city maps with which the officials can provide information that may be necessary due to the very confusing Japanese address system (often without street names or house numbers). Sometimes the Kōban even have precise information on the owners and tenants of certain apartments, which are compiled twice a year in cooperation with the respective municipalities. This information is not managed centrally, but the authorities can use it to solve crimes.
Most of the kobans do not use women. For the few exceptions, the female civil servants do not work during the night shifts. This is justified with the low self-defense possibilities that a koban offers. In the past there have been isolated scandals because the police officers of a Kōban were helpless in the face of excesses. It even happened that members of the yakuza dragged and abducted people seeking protection from Koban.
The Kōban system, on the other hand, is often seen as partly responsible for the low crime rate in Japan. In particular, the citizen-friendly connection to the smallest urban areas is rated by critics as positive for the prevention of crime. Accordingly, other countries such as Brazil , Fiji , Singapore , Thailand and Mongolia have partially adopted the Kōban system. There are also individual attempts to introduce it in the United States .
Kōban in the Kyoto district of Shimogyō-ku
Koban in front of Chiba Central Station
Restored colonial koban in Chinkuashih Gold Ecological Park, Taipei County , Taiwan
