Japan Trip 2014 Tokyo Ikebukuro Station East exit Kōban Stroll in the Meiji-dōri

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Ikebukuro Station East exit Kōban(police box) is a design of the owl. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kōban A kōban (交番 kōban) is a small neighborhood police station found in Japan. Kōban also refers to the smallest organizational unit in today's Japanese police system. In addition to central police stations, Japanese uniformed police work is done from small buildings located within the community, a form of community policing. As of 2007, there are about 6,000 kōban all over Japan.[3] Since the 1990s, many of them are found with signs in Roman letters: "Koban". Overview A kōban is typically a two-storied housing with a couple of rooms (although there is wide variation), with from one to more than ten police officers.[6] The officers in these buildings can keep watch, respond to emergencies, give directions, and otherwise interact with citizens on a more intimate basis than they could from a more distant station. Although often translated to English as "police box",[7] the kōban bears little resemblance to the British police box. The name kōban derives from the name of the earliest structure built in 1874, which were indeed simple boxes meant for standing watch (立番 tachiban?) in rotation (交替 kōtai?), thus creating a compound word consisting of kō (交?) and ban (番?).[8] Soon after, in 1881, kōban were transformed into local community stations with as many as six officers and a new official name hashutsusho (派出所?) was given to it — although its common name, "kōban" survived. "Kōban" was further systematized and spread out nationwide, playing an important role in the Japanese police system over decades. It was in 1994 when once again the official name of hashutsusho (派出所?) was changed back to kōban. One of the issues recognized in the last several years as most significant around the kōban system was the existence of aki-kōban (空き交番?, un-manned stations). According to the National Police Agency, this issue was addressed and solved by 2007. Ikebukuro Ikebukuro (池袋, [ikebu͍ku͍ɽo]) is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. At the center of Ikebukuro is the train and subway station, a huge urban gathering shared by the JR East lines, the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and the Tōbu Tōjō Line. It is one of the main commuter hubs in the western Yamanote area of Tokyo. Ikebukuro Station is the second busiest station in Japan, second only to Shinjuku Station. Around the station are the Seibu and Tōbu department stores. Seibu, written with the characters for "West" and "Musashi (province)" 西武, is on the east end of the station and Tōbu, written with the characters for "East" and "Musashi" 東武, is on the west end. East of the station, on the site of Sugamo Prison, stands Sunshine 60, which was Tokyo's tallest building at the time of its construction. Adjacent to Sunshine City, on Meiji-Dori is the Toyota Amlux Building which houses the Toyota showroom. Otome Road, a leading shopping area for otaku products aimed at women, is located nearby. Marui and Don Quijote also have department stores in the area. The principal electronics retailer in Ikebukuro is Bic Camera. There is a small pleasure district located in Nishi-Ikebukuro, similar to Shinjuku's Kabukichō. The old village of Ikebukuro stood to the northwest of the station. Most of the area on which modern Ikebukuro is built was historically known as Sugamo. In the Taishō and Shōwa periods, the relatively low land prices attracted artists and foreign workers, who lent a somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere to Ikebukuro. Until October 1, 1932 when Toshima ward was established, the area was an independent municipality of Ikebukuro-mura (池袋村). The kanji for Ikebukuro literally means pond bag. Outside the west exit of Ikebukuro station near an entrance to the Fukutoshin Line is a small plaque explaining how the area used to have multiple lakes, hence the name. There is a small statue of an owl located near the center of the city called Ikefukurō-zō (いけふくろう像), meaning lake owl statue. It is a play on words from the alternative meaning of "fukuro" as "owl" (although owl is pronounced with a long final "oh", rather than a short "o" in the word "fukuro" for bag). The owl statue has become a famous meeting place along the lines of the statue of Hachikō located outside of Shibuya Station. Education Public elementary and junior high schools are operated by the Toshima Ward. Public high schools are operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education. Crime and safety The Kyokuto-kai designated yakuza syndicate is headquartered in Ikebukuro. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia