交番 (Police Box)


david-tennant-wave

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I’m partial to

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“Police box” is not a very good name for 交番. In the UK and US, “police box” was phone booths to call the police, whereas 交番 is a (small) building where real police officers are stationed. So it looks nothing like a TARDIS.

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What a dream crusher :frowning: At least thinking about it in that way makes for a great mnemonic.

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evil laugh

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Anything can look like a tardis because a tardis can look like anything.
image

And don’t forget that time a ship similar to the tardis looked like the 2nd floor of a small building.

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Some koban look like police boxes. Some look like normal buildings. Some look like just a room in a larger building.

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Where are the people saying that this word is useless?

It may not be a TARDIS, but this one has gotta be a spaceship of some variety.

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If not a ship, it’s a giant wood chipper.

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Agreed!

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And now I know what you get when you mix Dr. Who with Fargo.

To answer Koichi’s confusion over the etymology, incidentally, 交番 is a contraction of 交替 (shift rotation) + 立番 (standing watch). Japanese does love its contractions.

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@koichi, please see Belthazar’s elucidation of 交番 above!

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Allons-y, dontcha know!

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