Police Stations and Koban

KOBAN (small neighborhood police station)

Your best resource for contacting the police, getting directions if you are lost, or for reporting a lost or stolen item, is your nearest KOBAN（交番）.

In Japan, police operate out of large police stations as well as smaller police boxes called “koban”. If you want to report an accident, need directions, or have other emergency related questions, you can go to the “koban” for guidance. You can also report a loss or theft of an item, but some “koban”s are too small to obtain the necessary seals, so going to a regular police station is recommended. Police stations are also where you will need to go to update changes in address on a driver’s license or change a name after you are married.