Koban （交番）

Here in America it is quite often that a pedestrian walking down the street will see a police car drive by, see a few policeman walking down a busy street with bars and clubs, or maybe be on the wrong end of a speeding ticket.  We see policeman quite often but the interaction is usually very limited.  IN America police stations are few and far between and are not the easiest to access. In Japan however, the police presence and level of interaction is quite a different story.

Japan has what are known as "koban" or "police boxes". These are located at essentially every train station, random corners of streets, out in the middle of a field in the country, and so on. These are  small outposts for the police of Japan and they are always manned with at least one officer. They do have main police stations as well, but those are usually located within the city.

They are identified as police boxes because essentially, that is what they are. Small box like structures that vary in size. 

The oldest koban in Tokyo

The policeman at these small police stations are of course there to uphold the law but mainly you will see them assisting with directions and questions people may have about the area since Japan in such a complicated place to figure out if you are in a new place. Another reason for having the koban at nearly every train station is if the trains to get into accidents occasionally or if someone unfortunately decides to walk out onto the tracks the police will already be on the scene. With the train system in Japan being the main mode of transportation for most of the country, the government cannot afford to have the trains be out of service for too long.

Everyone was always very helpful at these koban as they were always eager to help. They were able to assist me many times. If you need some help with directions or just have a general question I suggest finding the nearest koban.