A Koban is usually a small police cubicle stationed at crossroads and manned by a few police. They can be found throughout Japan and apparently many ther countries are introducing koban manned by a few police to keep law and order.
A rather interesting thing that I discovered during my adventure in Tokyo are these numbers that can be seen outside every Koban which show how many people got injured or died in traffic accidents. 166 people were injured yesterday. 4 people have died so far this year and 1675 people have been injured.
The crime rate in Japan is still relatively low - so low in fact that some don't have any human police stationed - just a unit inside called "Hi-tech Koban."
When you walk into these hi-tec Koban, you will be greeted with a lady on the screen of a machine that has a touch panel.
The Panel has many options including maps, lost and found and also options to talk to a real human police. There is also a red button that you should push in the event that you are being attacked by a bad person.
Are there similar self-service police boxes in your region too?
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