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On the Job

Excluding Tokyo prefecture, officers in Japan work approximately 56 hours a week under a 3 shift system. On the first shift (Day Duty), officers work from 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM the same day. The second shift (Full-Day Duty) begins the next day at 8:30 AM and concludes at 8:30 AM the following morning. During this 24 shift, officers may take a break, when circumstances allow, for a total of 8 hours. After this 24 hour shift, officers then receive a day of rest (Off Duty) before beginning the cycle anew the following day.

Tokyo runs under a 4 shift system. Officers are on duty 55 hours a week and work for 44 hours.

Officer may take up to 20 paid holidays each year. Due to the belief that a dedicated and hard working officer does not take all the vacations allowed, very few use all 20 of their holidays.

Only the most capable officers are assigned to motorcycles and patrol cars. By the very nature of using a motor vehicle, these officers are responsible for a larger area. Furthermore, considering the unpredictability of traffic, these officers must make more independent decisions. In order guarantee that these officers are fresh and alert, patrol car officers (and motorcycle cops) are not permitted to drive more than 3 hours without taking an hour rest. They must also take a 10 minute break every 2 hours.

Officers are prohibited from smoking or eating in public while in uniform. If they wish to engage in these activities, they must seek out a koban or a secluded area of the neighborhood. OAV 1 displays this as Miyuki and Natsumi head off to a desolate section of park land to have their lunch.

While watching the YUA series, one may notice the seriousness that cast places on circumstances which appear minor compared to the difficulties American police officers face everyday (mark the amount of effort Miyuki and Natsumi invest into finding medical assistance for a sick cat in the second OAV). Such urgency attributed by police officers to whatever predicaments may arise stems the Japanese police policy of addressing situations, regardless of how minor they may appear, with the maximum amount of available resources. This is done in an effort to prevent such situations from developing into something unmanageable. A Matsue Prefecture Police special crime bulletin about a South Asian gang of shoplifters targeting local department stores exemplifies this. It is possible that these incidents of shoplifting were each committed by a single individual or a group of unrelated individuals. However, by presenting the notion that these incidents were the product of some organized crime effort, the Matsue Police induces citizens to be more alert. Such awareness can easily cut down on success of habitual shoplifters and deter others from engaging in similar activities.

Japanese police work thrives on structured teamwork and preparation. There are approximately 1.3 patrol officers for each sergeant and 2.1 patrol officers for each senior command officer (officers with a rank above the front-line supervisor of sergeant). In the U.S., there are approximately 6.4 patrol officers for every sergeant and 5.6 patrol officers for every senior command officer. In Japan, the supervisor is directly responsible for the actions of his subordinates. As seen in OAV 4, a supervisor will often personally coordinate the actions of his officers by radio. The supervisor shares in the pride felt when his officers perform well and receives equal or greater punishment when they behave improperly. Hence, a family like bond forms between officers and their commander. Notice that the captain's desk is not separated from the other officers in OAV 1. Often, a commanding officer will join his subordinates in social events such as drinking parties or attending a vacation resort.

Though teamwork is the foundation of Japanese police work, Japanese officers make many independent decisions confronting those who break the law. If a citizen is peddling merchandise in a restricted area but is otherwise law abiding and not bothering anyone, officers will often turn a blind eye. However, officers will force the citizen to sell his merchandise elsewhere if he is obnoxious or appears "shady". For slightly more serious crimes, officers may forgo sending the offender to court if the offender is cooperative and repentant. What constitutes as "slightly more serious" is a value judgment made by the officers. Certainly a crime such as murder does not fall into this category. Instead, the officers may give the offender a lecture on duty and morality (Nakajama gives such a lecture to the traffic offenders in OAV 2 and OAV 4), ask for a written apology addressed to some commanding officer, and assign a punishment on the spot. It is interesting to note that in Japan there are 18 times more police officers than lawyers. In the U.S., the number of lawyers equals the number of police officers. Writing an apology is normally enough to shame a Japanese person from ever committing the crime again. However, for the occasional repeat offender, his written apologies become evidence against him in court.