Becoming a police officer in Japan

nekojita · 28 Jul 2014

It doesn't seem to me to be impossible that there are some police officers who were born outside Japan or born in Japan with foreign nationality, but who were then raised there from a young age (most if not all schooling in Japanese, etc) and naturalised.

Whatever the particular story there was, however, I would be willing to put hard cold cash down on a bet that he did not move to Japan aged 20 having not yet learnt Japanese.

Toritoribe · 28 Jul 2014

bloodr0se said:
Tokyo, on the Seibu Ikebukuro line. There's a koban just outside the train station. I think he was an ethnic Chinese and obviously naturalised immigrant. It was actually my girlfriend who noticed when she saw him giving directions to someone else.

How did she know he was an ethnic Chinese?

bloodr0se · 29 Jul 2014

Toritoribe said:
How did she know he was an ethnic Chinese?

Accent and name badge.

Toritoribe · 29 Jul 2014

Do you remember his name?

bloodr0se · 29 Jul 2014

Toritoribe said:
Do you remember his name?

Sorry, it was a couple of years ago now. I can ask my other half later on if she remembers but I'm worried that might kick start a debate for which I don't quite have the energy today.

Mike Cash · 29 Jul 2014

bloodr0se said:
Accent and name badge.

Now I know this is BS.

You will NEVER see an actual policeman wearing a name badge.

A volunteer working with the police, perhaps. An actual 警察官, no way in hell.

bloodr0se · 29 Jul 2014

Mike Cash said:
Now I know this is BS.

You will NEVER see an actual policeman wearing a name badge.

A volunteer working with the police, perhaps. An actual 警察官, no way in hell.

As I've said, it was a couple of years ago now but I do know there was a Chinese policeman there because it came up again by chance in a recent conversation with my girlfriend. I don't really have any reason to lie about it.

Now that I think about it, it is actually possible that he was talking in Chinese to a member of the public and that was what peaked her interest. That area has a small ethnic Chinese and Filipino population.

Toritoribe · 29 Jul 2014

Tell her that 中国風の名前を持つ日本人、あるいは帰化した中国系の人というのは両方ともまったくありえない話ではないでしょうが（それでも後者の確率は限りなく低い）、言葉を聞くだけで日本人じゃないと思えるほど程度の低い言語能力で警察官採用試験に合格できるとはとてもじゃないけど思えませんね。

Mike Cash · 29 Jul 2014

bloodr0se said:
As I've said, it was a couple of years ago now but I do know there was a Chinese policeman there because it came up again by chance in a recent conversation with my girlfriend. I don't really have any reason to lie about it.

Now that I think about it, it is actually possible that he was talking in Chinese to a member of the public and that was what peaked her interest. That area has a small ethnic Chinese and Filipino population.

I'm not saying you're lying; I'm saying you're mistaken. ("Piqued", by the way, not "peaked").

Given the number of people who can't tell the difference between cops and security guards in this country, it is hardly surprising that someone mistakenly assume a person to be a cop.

bloodr0se · 29 Jul 2014

Toritoribe said:
Tell her that 中国風の名前を持つ日本人、あるいは帰化した中国系の人というのは両方ともまったくありえない話ではないでしょうが（それでも後者の確率は限りなく低い）、言葉を聞くだけで日本人じゃないと思えるほど程度の低い言語能力で警察官採用試験に合格できるとはとてもじゃないけど思えませんね。

I'm not sure that I'm ready for the onslaught that might cause tbh.

bloodr0se · 29 Jul 2014

Mike Cash said:
I'm not saying you're lying; I'm saying you're mistaken. ("Piqued", by the way, not "peaked").

Given the number of people who can't tell the difference between cops and security guards in this country, it is hardly surprising that someone mistakenly assume a person to be a cop.

Would a security guard usually be in a koban though? I wouldn't be at all surprised if what you're saying is true though. Even the taxi drivers can look like officials in that country sometimes.

Mike Cash · 29 Jul 2014

bloodr0se said:
Would a security guard usually be in a koban though? I wouldn't be at all surprised if what you're saying is true though. Even the taxi drivers can look like officials in that country sometimes.

Not even all the kobans are actually kobans anymore. And not everybody who works in either (and none who work in some) is an actual police officer, despite all having uniforms from the police department.

Mike Cash · 29 Jul 2014

Toritoribe said:
In what prefecture's Hibarigaoka are you referring to? Wasn't he a volunteer or something? Police officers must possess Japanese citizenship, so Chinese police officer is a paradox.

Hibarigaoka is in Misora Prefecture.

There are sometimes police exchange programs. Several years ago I saw on television a piece about a Chicago policeman working in a koban in Tokyo. I think it was Ikebukuro. Of course, this was a short-term thing and he was at all times paired with a Japanese officer.

nice gaijin · 29 Jul 2014

Mike Cash said:
There are sometimes police exchange programs. Several years ago I saw on television a piece about a Chicago policeman working in a koban in Tokyo. I think it was Ikebukuro. Of course, this was a short-term thing and he was at all times paired with a Japanese officer.

I think they made a movie loosely based on that

Takashi_pc · 16 Mar 2020

Hello all, I'm not sure if this thread is still active. Well, I am 17 this year, my first year studying in Japan high elementary school, according to the Japanese Police recruitment, there are 3 exams to be a police officer. The first exam is after high elementary, min. age requirement: 17. So, after I get citizenship, am I able to be a police officer? Thanks! It is my biggest dream since I was 12

mdchachi · 17 Mar 2020

Takashi_pc said:
Hello all, I'm not sure if this thread is still active. Well, I am 17 this year, my first year studying in Japan high elementary school, according to the Japanese Police recruitment, there are 3 exams to be a police officer. The first exam is after high elementary, min. age requirement: 17. So, after I get citizenship, am I able to be a police officer? Thanks! It is my biggest dream since I was 12

I don't see why not. If you are a citizen and pass the exams it should be possible. gambatte.

Toritoribe · 17 Mar 2020

Takashi_pc said:
Hello all, I'm not sure if this thread is still active. Well, I am 17 this year, my first year studying in Japan high elementary school, according to the Japanese Police recruitment, there are 3 exams to be a police officer. The first exam is after high elementary, min. age requirement: 17. So, after I get citizenship, am I able to be a police officer? Thanks! It is my biggest dream since I was 12

確認なんですが、警察官採用試験を受けられるくらいに日本語は堪能でいらっしゃるんでしょうか。

Takashi_pc · 17 Mar 2020

Thanks to both of you. Currently not very fluent, but as long as I'm studying in Japan, I will be taking Japanese course for long term just like every Japanese. ありがとうございます！

ScipioFinch · 26 Apr 2020

Mylynes said:
Hi there. I am from the USA and looking to move to Japan in around a year or so. I was wondering. Are foreigners allowed to become police officers in Japan? If so what are the requirements? What kind of training and such needs to be done in order to work as a policeman in Japan. More specifically in Tokyo.

Are foreigners allowed to become police officers in the USA?

Grandpa Frank · 26 Apr 2020

You can become a police officer in the US once you pass the citizenship test and then pass the police entrance exams and then make it through the police training academy . Here in Portland , Maine , we have several officers who came from other countries.

Mark of Zorro · 27 Apr 2020

ScipioFinch said:
Are foreigners allowed to become police officers in the USA?

No. Only citizens. But one can change their citizenship to American, then become a cop and thereby become an embarrassment twice in real short order.

Becoming a police officer in Japan

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