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Japanese Police Officers

Purpose

Just like their American counterparts, the Japanese police force upholds established laws and maintains order. However, unlike in the U.S., the Japanese also expect their police force to uphold the morals of their society (for more on this topic see Japanese Police Procedure).

Who Becomes a Police Officer

98.1% of Japan's police officers are male. Typically, police officers come middle class families of blue-collar workers, manual laborers, or small entrepreneurs. While they take great pride in their work and fancy themselves as the modern samurai, police officers see their careers as a stepping stone to raise the social status of their families. Generally, police officers expect their children to attend college and pursue careers "above" police work such as engineering or business.

Education wise, all police recruits must be high school graduates. Approximately 40% of them also have a degree from a 4 year university. For comparison, 93% of Japan's general populace are high school graduates while 33% are college graduates.

Police Training

All Japanese police recruits undergo a standardized curriculum set by Japan's National Police Agency. High school graduates undergo 1 year of police school. After which, they are given "hands on" experience through three months of field work. Once the 3 months are over, the recruits then return for 6 more months of training and discussions about what they experienced. College graduates undergo a slightly different system. While they must also experience 3 months of field work, they only attend police school for 8 months beforehand and 4 months after. Approximately 5% of all Japanese police candidates fail to complete the course.

Anyone attending their first year of police school must live in a dormitory, even if they are married. For single officers, this requirement extends into their first 6 months of duty. All dorms maintain a curfew. Residents must obtain special permission to stay out past 11:00 PM. This is not to say that only cadets and rookie officers live in the dorms. Due to the high cost of living in certain areas, many new officers will continue to reside in a dormitory after the first six months.

A distinct aspect of Japanese police training is the focus on developing an officer's social skills and moral judgment. At the Tokyo police academy, Confucianism, bushido (the way of the samurai), and psychology comprises 10% of the total curriculum for high school graduates and 8% of the total curriculum for college graduates.

Officers continue to receive training throughout their careers. Each year, a random selection of approximately 42,000 officers take technical courses which last between 3 weeks to 1 year. Officers promoted to the rank of sergeant must undergo 3 months of training at a regional training facility. Officers promoted to the rank of assistant inspector must undergo 2 months of training. New inspectors must experience 6 months of training at the national police college in Tokyo.

Benefits and Paycheck

Income for Japanese police officers consists of three parts. The base pay consists of an hourly wage. Officers then receive an additional amount to supplement dependents, housing, commuting, assignments to supervisory positions, overtime, and working holidays. Typically, these allowances amount to 34.6% of their base pay. Finally, a police officer receives a bonus three times a year. These bonuses sum to approximately 40% of the officer's base pay. Combining all these factors together, a police officer in Japan makes approximately $27,000 dollars a year. In Tokyo, the amount is slightly higher at $29,000 dollars a year. Upon their retirement, Japanese police officers receive a pension which is equivalent to approximately 55% of their base pay.

Japanese police officers receive benefits much like those the U.S. provides for its military. 47% of all officers live in housing provided by the government for little or no cost. Officers receive free medical care and hospitalizations while their families receive these services at a reduced rate. Services such as restaurants, laundries, and barbers are also available at lower cost. By joining a police union, officers can receive additional benefits. This usually represents providing commodities at reduced cost or supplements to health services and pensions provided by the government. Some police unions have also built low cost hotels and vacation resorts specifically for police officers and their families.

Female Officers

Female officers comprise approximately 2% of the total Japanese police force. They do not carry firearms and are assigned limited types of tasks despite the existence of an Equal Opportunity Law which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sex. Though Miyuki and Natsumi are typically drawn carrying various firearms, as made clear in the manga, these weapons are usually elaborate paint or BB guns.

Jobs assigned to women fall into the categories of traffic, social work, and undercover work. Women in the traffic division typically spend their time directing traffic, writing tickets, and impounding illegally parked vehicles. Women assigned to social work usually spend their time giving directions, counseling juveniles, or making presentations on traffic safety and crime prevention. Undercover female officers are usually assigned to combat shoplifting or pick pocketing. While working at the station, female officers usually serve tea to visitors and male officers as Yoriko does in OAV 4.

Despite this apparent "second class" treatment, a greater percentage of Japanese women seek to become police officers than men. Those that are officers take great pride in their work and do not feel discriminated against. This may be do to the fact that female officers do not expect to do anything more than what was mentioned. Furthermore, the Japanese respect working hard; the type work done is secondary.