Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An oval gold coin in the Edo period of feudal Japan.
  • noun A small community police office, a police box.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese 小判 (こばん, koban)

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese 交番 (こうばん, kōban)

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Examples

  • The National Police Agency says that '' koban '' police boxes and '' hashutsujo '' police branch offices are located at about 13,000 places across the country but the number represents a decline of around 1,000 from five years earlier.

    Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion 2008

  • Last week, the town reopened its first koban , a small neighborhood police station, which is a staple of most Japanese communities.

    Fateful Choice on a Day of Disaster Gordon Fairclough 2011

  • Since, according to Morris, the kanmon should be equivalent to the ichibu-koban, I have to assume that the monsen needs to be scaled up.

    井の中の蛙 » When translating, leave currency in the original units » Print 2009

  • At the end of Main Street, make a U-turn when you hit another gate, called Zenrin Mon or the Zenrin Gate, and retrace your steps to the koban (police station).

    Yokohama 2009

  • At the koban, turn right at Nanmon Siruku Rodo (South Gate Silk Road), which is full of quirky stores.

    Yokohama 2009

  • Since, according to Morris, the kanmon should be equivalent to the ichibu-koban, I have to assume that the monsen needs to be scaled up.

    When translating, leave currency in the original units 2009

  • Just as koban symbolize Japan's old ways, Nishimura's sleek office foreshadows a different future.

    Battling A New Breed Of Criminal 2008

  • They saw that he represented a new breed -- the product of contemporary societal breakdown rather than poverty, the kind of criminal who would be invisible to cops in the koban.

    Battling A New Breed Of Criminal 2008

  • Indeed, in metropolitan districts, koban are necessarily situated near porno shops and pin-ball parlours.

    The Perry Legacy 2008

  • Police lived with their families in chuzai-sho, small stations with residential quarters, or spent long hours in koban, tiny police boxes built in every neighborhood.

    Battling A New Breed Of Criminal 2008

  • Koban—some 6,300 spread across the country—are small, strategically located police stations that serve as most residents’ primary point of contact with the police.

    Japan’s Lost-and-Found System Is Insanely Good 2023

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