警察
けいさつ
hepburn keisatsu
police
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 警察を呼んでください。Please call the police.
- 警察署はあそこです。The police station is over there.
Collocations
警察 (keisatsu, police)警察官 (keisatsukan, police officer)交番 (kouban, neighborhood police box)110番 (hyaku tooban, emergency police number)パトカー (patokaa, patrol car)
Mnemonic
警察 keisatsu = 警 (alert) + 察 (observe). Japan's public-safety infrastructure has a standout feature: the kouban (交番), the neighborhood police box. Over 10,000 kouban span cities and rural areas, each staffed by 1–3 officers handling directions, lost items, and drunk patrons as first responders. They anchor Japan's safety reputation (lowest crime rate in the G7). Emergencies dial 110. Register split: keisatsukan (officer, formal) vs omawari-san (friendly nickname). PATCH-4 v3 note: the kouban system is core Japanese urban sociology — one word compresses a safety model. Resembles Korea's "pachulso" but the density and integration outstrip it.
Quick check
The core role of 交番 in Japanese public safety?