History[edit]

See also: Police services of the Empire of Japan

The Japanese government established a European-style civil police system in 1874, under the
centralized control of the Police Bureau within the Home Ministry, to put down internal
disturbances and maintain order during the Meiji Restoration. By the 1880s, the police had
developed into a nationwide instrument of government control, providing support for local
leaders and enforcing public morality. They acted as general civil administrators, implementing
official policies and thereby facilitating unification and modernization. In rural areas especially,
the police had great authority and were accorded the same mixture of fear and respect as the
village head. Their increasing involvement in political affairs was one of the foundations of the
authoritarian state in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century.

The centralized police system steadily acquired responsibilities, until it controlled almost all
aspects of daily life, including fire prevention and mediation of labor disputes. The system
regulated public health, business, factories, and construction, and it issued permits and licenses.
The Peace Preservation Law of 1925 gave police the authority to arrest people for "wrong
thoughts". Special Higher Police (Tokko) were created to regulate the content of motion pictures,
political meetings, and election campaigns. The Imperial Japanese Army's military police
(Kempeitai) and the Imperial Japanese Navy's Tokkeitai, operating under their respective
services and the justice and home ministries aided the civilian police in limiting proscribed
political activity. After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, military police assumed greater
authority, leading to friction with their civilian counterparts. After 1937 police directed business
activities for the war effort, mobilized labor, and controlled transportation.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, occupation authorities in World War II retained the prewar
police structure until a new system was implemented and the Diet passed the 1947 Police Law.
Contrary to Japanese proposals for a strong, centralized force to deal with postwar unrest, the
police system was decentralized. About 1,600 independent municipal forces were established in
cities, towns, and villages with 5,000 inhabitants or more, and a National Rural Police was
organized by prefecture. Civilian control was to be ensured by placing the police under the
jurisdiction of public safety commissions controlled by the National Public Safety Commission
in the Office of the Prime Minister. The Home Ministry was abolished and replaced by the less
powerful Ministry of Home Affairs, and the police were stripped of their responsibility for fire
protection, public health, and other administrative duties.

When most of the occupation forces were transferred to Korea in 195051 with the Korean War,
the 75,000 strong National Police Reserve (predecessor of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)
was formed outside the Regular police organizations to back up the ordinary police during civil
disturbances. And pressure mounted for a centralized system more compatible with Japanese
political preferences. The 1947 Police Law was amended in 1951 to allow the municipal police
of smaller communities to merge with the National Rural Police. Most chose this arrangement,
and by 1954 only about 400 cities, towns, and villages still had their own police forces. Under
the 1954 amended Police Law, a final restructuring created an even more centralized system in
which local forces were organized by prefectures under a National Police Agency.
The revised Police Law of 1954, still in effect in the 1990s, preserves some strong points of the
postwar system, particularly measures ensuring civilian control and political neutrality, while
allowing for increased centralization. The National Public Safety Commission system has been
retained. State responsibility for maintaining public order has been clarified to include
coordination of national and local efforts; centralization of police information, communications,
and record keeping facilities; and national standards for training, uniforms, pay, rank, and
promotion. Rural and municipal forces were abolished and integrated into prefectural forces,
which handled basic police matters. Officials and inspectors in various ministries and agencies
continue to exercise special police functions assigned to them in the 1947 Police Law.

Regular police organizations[edit]

As of 2010, the total strength reached approximately 291,475 personnel.[1] The NPA total is about
7,709 with 1,969 police officers, 901 Imperial guards and 4,839 civilians.[1] The Prefectural
police total is about 283,766 with 255,156 police officers and 28,610 civilians.[1]

Nationwide, there are about 14,900 female police officers and about 11,800 female civilians.[1]

National level[edit]

National Public Safety Commission[edit]

The mission of the National Public Safety Commission is to guarantee the neutrality of the police
by insulating the force from political pressure and to ensure the maintenance of democratic
methods in police administration. The commission's primary function is to supervise the National
Police Agency, and it has the authority to appoint or dismiss senior police officers. The
commission consists of a chairman, who holds the rank of minister of state, and five members
appointed by the prime minister with the consent of both houses of the Diet. The commission
operates independently of the cabinet, but liaison and coordination with it are facilitated by the
chairman's being a member of that body.

National Police Agency[edit]

Main article: National Police Agency (Japan)

As the central coordinating body for the entire police system, the National Police Agency
determines general standards and policies; detailed direction of operations is left to the lower
echelons.[2] In a national emergency or large-scale disaster, the agency is authorized to take
command of prefectural police forces. In 1989 the agency was composed of about 1,100 national
civil servants, empowered to collect information and to formulate and execute national policies.
The agency is headed by a commissioner general who is appointed by the National Public Safety
Commission with the approval of the prime minister.[2]

The Central Office includes the Secretariat, with divisions for general operations, planning,
information, finance, management, and procurement and distribution of police equipment, and
five bureaus.
 Internal Bureaus
o Community Safety Bureau ( Seikatsu Anzen-kyoku?)
o Criminal Affairs Bureau ( Keiji-kyoku?)
o Traffic Bureau ( Kts-kyoku?)
o Security Bureau ( Keibi-kyoku?)
o Info-Communications Bureau ( Jh Tsshin-kyoku?)
Local Branch Bureaus and Departments
o Hokkaido Police Info-Communications Department (
Hokkaid Keisatsu Tsshin Jh-bu?)
o Tohoku Regional Police Bureau ( Thoku Kanku Keisatsu-
kyoku?)
o Kanto Regional Police Bureau ( Kant Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku?)
o Tokyo Metropolitan Police Info-Communications Department (
Tky-to Keisatsu Jh Tsshin-bu?)
o Chubu Regional Police Bureau ( Chbu Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku?)
o Kinki Regional Police Bureau ( Kinki Kanku Keisatsu-kyoku?)
o Chugoku Regional Police Bureau ( Chgoku Kanku Keisatsu-
kyoku?)
o Shikoku Regional Police Bureau ( Shikoku Kanku Keisatsu-
kyoku?)
o Kyushu Regional Police Bureau ( Kysh Kanku Keisatsu-
kyoku?)
Subsidiary Organs
o National Police Academy ( Keisatsu Dai-gakk?)
o National Research Institute of Police Science ( Kagaku Keisatsu
Kenky-sho?)
o Imperial Guard Headquarters ( Kg-Keisatsu Honbu?)

Local level[edit]
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Office in Kasumigaseki

There are some 289,000 police officers nationwide, about 97 percent of whom were affiliated
with local police forces. Local forces include:[1]

forty-three Prefectural (ken) Police Departments;

Tokyo Metropolitan (to) Police Departments, in Tokyo;
two urban Prefectural (fu) Police Departments, in Osaka and Kyoto; and
one district (d) Police Departments, in Hokkaid.

These police departments are responsible for every police actions within their jurisdiction in
principle, but most important activities are regulated by the National Police Agency. Police
officers whose rank are higher than Assistant Commissioner ( Keishi-sei?) are salaried by
the National budget even if they belong to local police departments. Designation and dismissal of
these high-rank officers are delegated to National Public Safety Commission.[3]

The NPA also provides funds for equipment like Police radio systems, riot control action, escort
operation, and natural disaster duties, and for internal security and multiple jurisdiction cases.
National police statutes and regulations establish the strength and rank allocations of all local
personnel and the locations of local police stations. Prefectural police finance and control the
patrol officer on the beat, traffic control, criminal investigations, and other daily operations.

Each prefectural police headquarters contains administrative divisions corresponding to those of

the bureaus of the National Police Agency. Headquarters are staffed by specialists in basic police
functions and administration and are commanded by an officer appointed by the local office of
the National Public Safety Commission. Most arrests and investigations are performed by
prefectural police officials (and, in large jurisdictions, by police assigned to substations), who are
assigned to one or more central locations within the prefecture. Experienced officers are
organized into functional bureaus and handle all but the most ordinary problems in their fields.

Criminal investigation[edit]

See also: Criminal justice system of Japan

In the Empire of Japan, the criminal investigation was presided over by prosecutors, like the
Ministre public does in French law. Then, with the 1947 Police Law and 1948 Code of Criminal
Procedure, responsibility of the investigation has been defined that uniquely located at police
officers. In order to fulfill this responsibility, Criminal Investigation Departments or Bureaus
(Judiciary Police) were set up in each police organization. After the establishment of the 1954
amended Police Law, these departments are supervised by the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the
National Police Agency.[4]

Criminal Investigation Departments or Bureaus maintain two Investigation Divisions (

Sousa-ka?) (third or even fourth Divisions are established in some urban prefecture), a Organized
Crime Investigation Division ( Soshikihanzai-taisaku-ka?) (reinforced as a
independent department or headquarters in the TMPD and some prefecture), a Mobile
Investigation Unit, and a Identification Division ( Kanshiki-ka?). The Mobile
Investigation Units ( Kid Sousa-tai?) are primary reaction units for initial criminal
investigations, distributed among the region with unmarked cars. The Special Investigation
Teams ( Tokushu-jiken Sousa-kakari?) are specialized detective units of the
First Investigation Divisions, well acquainted with new technology and special tactics including
SWAT capabilities.[4]

Public security[edit]

See also: Public order and internal security in Japan

Community Safety[edit]

Officer providing assistance at a police station in Hiroshima, near Hondori

Kbans are substations near major transportation hubs and shopping areas and in residential
districts. They form the first line of police response to the public. The Koban system is composed
of about 6500 police boxes (Koban) and about 7600 residential police boxes (Chuzaisho).[5]
Koban are staffed by a relatively small number of police officers (usually 3-5 officers); a
Chuzaisho is usually staffed by a single officer. About 20 percent of the total police force's
officers are assigned to koban. Staffed by officers working in eight-hour shifts, they serve as a
base for foot patrols and usually have both sleeping and eating facilities for officers on duty but
not on watch. In rural areas, residential offices usually are staffed by one police officer who
resides in adjacent family quarters. These officers endeavor to become a part of the community,
and their families often aid in performing official tasks.
Vigilance at the Koban and Chuzaisho is maintained by standing watch in front or sitting watch
inside, enabling police officers to respond immediately to any incident. While keeping a constant
watch, they perform a myriad of routine tasks, such as receiving crime reports from citizens,
handling lost and found articles, counseling citizens in trouble and giving directions.

Outside their Koban and Chuzaisho, police officers patrol their beats either on foot, by bicycle or
by car. While on patrol, they gain a precise knowledge of the topography and terrain of the area,
question suspicious-looking persons, provide traffic guidance and enforcement, instruct
juveniles, rescue the injured, warn citizens of imminent dangers and protect lost children and
those under the influence or intoxicated.

Radio-equipped patrol cars are deployed at each PPH, police station, Koban and Chuzaisho.
Police officers use them for routine patrol and rapid response. These cars remain in constant
radio contact with their police station and the communications command center of the PPH.
When an emergency is reported, this rapid response capability plays a major role in the quick
resolution of such incidents.[6]

Officers assigned to koban have intimate knowledge of their jurisdictions. One of their primary
tasks is to conduct twice-yearly house-by-house residential surveys of homes in their areas, at
which time the head of the household at each address fills out a residence information card
detailing the names, ages, occupations, business addresses, and vehicle registration numbers of
household occupants and the names of relatives living elsewhere. Police take special note of
names of the aged or those living alone who might need special attention in an emergency. They
conduct surveys of local businesses and record employee names and addresses, in addition to
such data as which establishments stay open late and which employees might be expected to
work late. Participation in the survey is voluntary, and most citizens cooperate, but an increasing
segment of the population has come to regard the surveys as invasions of privacy.

Information elicited through the surveys is not centralized but is stored in each police box, where
it is used primarily as an aid to locating people. When a crime occurs or an investigation is under
way, however, these files are invaluable in establishing background data for a case. Specialists
from district police stations spend considerable time culling through the usually poorly filed data
maintained in the police boxes.

Riot control and counter-terrorism[edit]

Anti-firearms officers of the Saitama Prefectural Police.

Within their Security Departments or Bureaus, each prefectural police department including the
TMPD maintain Riot Police Units ( Kid-tai?). These units are not only riot police units
literally, but also some kind of rapid reaction force for disaster relief or other emergency
missions, and reinforcement for regular police when necessary. Full-time riot police can also be
augmented by regular police trained in riot duties.[7]

Counter-terrorism operations are also the affairs of the Security Departments. The Special
Assault Teams are the national-level units and Anti-firearms squads are the local units.[8] These
units are established within the Riot Police Units basically, but Special Assault Teams of the
TMPD and Osaka Prefectural Police are under direct control of their Security Bureau or
Department. Special Investigation Teams of the Criminal Investigation Departments are
mandated for law enforcement missions against heavily-armed criminals except terrorists,[9] but
in some rural but well-versed Prefectural Police like Aomori, these detectives can form a
counter-terrorism task force together with uniformed officers and riot specialists.[10]

Operations of these units are supervised by the Security Bureau of the NPA.[11]

Conditions of service[edit]

Education is highly stressed in police recruitment and promotion. Entrance to the force is
determined by examinations administered by each prefecture. Examinees are divided into two
groups: upper-secondary-school graduates and university graduates. Recruits underwent rigorous
trainingone year for upper-secondary school graduates and six months for university
graduatesat the residential police academy attached to the prefectural headquarters. On
completion of basic training, most police officers are assigned to local police boxes called
Kobans. Promotion is achieved by examination and requires further course work. In-service
training provides mandatory continuing education in more than 100 fields. Police officers with
upper-secondary school diplomas are eligible to take the examination for sergeant after three
years of on-the-job experience. University graduates can take the examination after only one
year. University graduates are also eligible to take the examination for inspector, chief inspector,
and superintendent after shorter periods than upper-secondary school graduates. There are
usually five to fifteen examinees for each opening.

About fifteen officers per year pass advanced civil service examinations and are admitted as
senior officers. Officers are groomed for administrative positions, and, although some rise
through the ranks to become senior administrators, most such positions are held by specially
recruited senior executives.

The police forces are subject to external oversight. Although officials of the National Public
Safety Commission generally defer to police decisions and rarely exercise their powers to check
police actions or operations, police are liable for civil and criminal prosecution, and the media
actively publicizes police misdeeds. The Human Rights Bureau of the Ministry of Justice solicits
and investigates complaints against public officials, including police, and prefectural legislatures
could summon police chiefs for questioning. Social sanctions and peer pressure also constrain
police behavior. As in other occupational groups in Japan, police officers develop an allegiance
to their own group and a reluctance to offend its principles.

Ranks[edit]

Police officers are divided into nine ranks:[12]

Comparable
Status Police ranks[12] Representative job titles
military ranks[13]
Commissioner No counterpart
The Chief of the National Police
General ( (outside normal
Agency
Keisatsu-ch Chkan?) ranking)
Superintendent
The Chief of the Metropolitan Police
General ( General
Department
Keishi-skan?)
Deputy Commissioner General,
Deputy Superintendent General, The
Government Senior Commissioner Lieutenant
Chief of Regional Police Bureau, The
officials ( Keishi-kan?) general
Chief of Prefectural Police
Headquarters
Commissioner ( The Chief of Prefectural Police
Major general
Keishi-ch ) ? Headquarters
Assistant
Commissioner ( Colonel The Chief of Police Station
Keishi-sei?)
The Chief of Police Station (small or
Superintendent ( Lieutenant middle), The Vice Commanding
Keishi?) colonel Officer of Police Station, Commander
of Riot Police Unit
Chief Inspector ( Major or Captain Squad Commander of Police Station,
Keibu?) Leader of Riot Company

Local police Inspector ( Captain or Squad Sub-Commander of Police

personnel Keibu-ho?) Lieutenant Station, Leader of Riot Platoon

Police Sergeant ( Warrant officer

Field supervisor, Leader of Police box
Junsa-buch?) or Sergeant
Senior Police Officer (
Corporal (Honorary rank of Police Officers)
Junsa-ch?)
Police officer ( Private Prefectural Police Officer's career start
 Junsa?) from this rank.

The NPA Commissioner General holds the highest position of the Japanese police.[14] His title is
not a rank, but rather denotes his position as head of the NPA. On the other hand, the MPD
Superintendent General represents not only the highest rank in the system but also assignment as
head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.[14]

Law enforcement officials outside regular police

organizations[edit]
In addition to regular police officers, there are several thousand officials attached to various
agencies who perform special duties relating to public safety. They are responsible for such
matters as forest preservation, narcotics control, fishery inspection, and enforcement of
regulations on maritime, labor, and mine safety.

Special judicial police officials ()[edit]

Cabinet Office[edit]

Imperial guard ()

Ministry of Justice[edit]

Prison guard ()