Can 交番 (koban) be used for old British-style/Dr Who police boxes?


When Dr Who is translated into Japanese, do they translate police box as こうばん?
I've seen こうばん in Japan, and they aren't anything like old British police
boxes, so if that's how it's translated, is that confusing to a Japanese
audience? Or do they use some other term?




First to deal with the Japanese language related question as to whether we
could use 交番 to refer old British telephone boxes: As a result of the
discussion on these pages I would say yes because although there seem to have
many types of British police boxes, they were on the whole very similar in
function to the 交番 to be found in Japan.

A Japanese 交番 is more like a mini-police station manned 24/7, or if you like
somewhere between a glorified sentry-box (where a soldier would stand on duty)
and a guard-hut, rather like you find at gates, where there might be one guard
watching out on duty and perhaps another in the back room which probably
contains a small office and place to rest. My dictionary give the expression
交替で番に当たること which I translate as "to guard in shifts".

We can see from this site: henderson-
tele.com/policeboxes/policeboxes/bytown.html that Dr Who's Tardis was only one
a huge variety of police boxes in Britain, and although the main function may
been for police officers and the general public to contact their local station
in the early days of telephones and portable 2-way radio was portable, they
also functioned as a "local police office". (The Tardis type was smaller than
many but also fell into this category.) googling "交番 明治 photos" reveals that
early Japanese 交番 have also varied in design and size but given that they
usually also functioned as a "local office" 交番 is probably correct expression.

Second, to deal with Dr Who and translation of Tardis: When the show was put
on Japanese TV several years ago it was referred to as a ターディス. The wiki-link
([http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ターディス](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9))
and related wiki-entries explain Dr Who, what the Tardis is and where the name
comes from. I am not an expert on the show or the Tardis but, as a time
machine (タイムマシン）, its ability to travel through Time and Relative Dimensions
in Space (TARDIS) seems to lead to it being referred to as an asteroid (小惑星）of
some sort. The real fans can probably explain better than I but:

If you google "Dr Who Japanese" several pages come up including some English
features in Japanese papers. Police boxes are vary rare in the UK now so they
don't mean much to many fans there either but one article suggests:

"The fact that on almost every corner in Tokyo there is a Police Box
(otherwise known as a Koban) and some of these places actually say 'POLICE
BOX' on the front, is unlikely to have been lost on NHK. Expect some
intergalactic police advertisements soon."

(Link: <http://www.sylvestermccoy.com/doctorwhojapan/>)

So to summarise: The Tardis is known as ターディス in Japan. People are familiar
with time travel etc but its guise as a police box probably means about the
same (ie is as confusing) to Japanese fans as it must be to its British fans
under 40 although the existence of 交番 in Japan might be of some help. The old
British police boxes were, on the whole, very similar in function to the 交番 to
be found in Japan and therefore 交番 is probably the appropriate expression.




First to deal with the Japanese language related question as to whether we
could use 交番 to refer old British telephone boxes: As a result of the
discussion on these pages I would say yes because although there seem to have
many types of British police boxes, they were on the whole very similar in
function to the 交番 to be found in Japan.

A Japanese 交番 is more like a mini-police station manned 24/7, or if you like
somewhere between a glorified sentry-box (where a soldier would stand on duty)
and a guard-hut, rather like you find at gates, where there might be one guard
watching out on duty and perhaps another in the back room which probably
contains a small office and place to rest. My dictionary give the expression
交替で番に当たること which I translate as "to guard in shifts".

We can see from this site: henderson-
tele.com/policeboxes/policeboxes/bytown.html that Dr Who's Tardis was only one
a huge variety of police boxes in Britain, and although the main function may
been for police officers and the general public to contact their local station
in the early days of telephones and portable 2-way radio was portable, they
also functioned as a "local police office". (The Tardis type was smaller than
many but also fell into this category.) googling "交番 明治 photos" reveals that
early Japanese 交番 have also varied in design and size but given that they
usually also functioned as a "local office" 交番 is probably correct expression.

Second, to deal with Dr Who and translation of Tardis: When the show was put
on Japanese TV several years ago it was referred to as a ターディス. The wiki-link
([http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ターディス](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9))
and related wiki-entries explain Dr Who, what the Tardis is and where the name
comes from. I am not an expert on the show or the Tardis but, as a time
machine (タイムマシン）, its ability to travel through Time and Relative Dimensions
in Space (TARDIS) seems to lead to it being referred to as an asteroid (小惑星）of
some sort. The real fans can probably explain better than I but:

If you google "Dr Who Japanese" several pages come up including some English
features in Japanese papers. Police boxes are vary rare in the UK now so they
don't mean much to many fans there either but one article suggests:

"The fact that on almost every corner in Tokyo there is a Police Box
(otherwise known as a Koban) and some of these places actually say 'POLICE
BOX' on the front, is unlikely to have been lost on NHK. Expect some
intergalactic police advertisements soon."

(Link: <http://www.sylvestermccoy.com/doctorwhojapan/>)

So to summarise: The Tardis is known as ターディス in Japan. People are familiar
with time travel etc but its guise as a police box probably means about the
same (ie is as confusing) to Japanese fans as it must be to its British fans
under 40 although the existence of 交番 in Japan might be of some help. The old
British police boxes were, on the whole, very similar in function to the 交番 to
be found in Japan and therefore 交番 is probably the appropriate expression.

