Police vehicles in Japan

Osaka City Metropolitan Municipal Police cars, c. 1950-1955. This photograph predates the prefectural police system.

The beginning of police cars in Japan was at the Asakusa police station in January 1949 (Shōwa 24). At the time of the turmoil after World War II, security was extremely bad even in Japan, with robberies and theft incidents.[3][4] Therefore, the local municipal police at that time painted the body of the car sold by the US military as "mobile police" or "移動警察" and introduced it as a trial, which is said to be the beginning of police cars in Japan.[3] After that, in June 1950 (Shōwa 25), the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which had been the local police, deployed three so-called patrol cars, modified domestic cars with radios. The base car was a Nissan 180 truck designed during the war, and this chassis was covered with a sedan body. Additionally, the Korean War broke out almost at the same time as the deployment of police cars. In Japan, the Red Purge became popular under the MacArthur Directive, and the work of the municipal police increased more and more.

The iconic black-and-white two-tone of Japanese police cars had a big reason for it. Shortly after the war, some municipal police units used jeep-type vehicles painted white for transportation. However, since most of the domestic vehicles then were painted white,[5] and since roads at that time were unpaved, the vehicles were heavily damaged and polluted, and the police were troubled.[4] As a solution, American police cars were used as a reference. The sides and front of the body, which easily got dirty, were painted black, the roof was left white, and the hood were either painted black or white to easily be able to identify police vehicles.[6] This is the prototype of the “black and white two-tone” police car that continues to this day. However, the modified Nissan 180 that was first deployed was a white-green (some say white-blue) two-tone. This seems to have followed the pattern of the US-made police car that was used as a reference. It was in 1955 (Shōwa 30) that this two-tone color of police cars were unified nationwide[3][4] and it seems that it has taken root in the coloring of police cars in Japan today. If the US police cars that Japan used as a reference in the 1950s had a different coloring, the Japanese police cars would have been different.

The first three police cars were poor quality and broke down frequently. The ride was uncomfortable, and it was hard work for the police. As a result, more and more police cars were based on Ford and Chevrolet vehicles sold by the US military.[7] The troubles did not end there. Due to the "risk of jamming/interception and monitoring communications (interception)'', the radios were taken down at the discretion of GHQ, so police cars often got lost, and was said that many vehicles fell into the fields on the way. It was necessary to wait until the end of the 1950s for VHF radios to be installed. In the 1960s, when the quality of domestic cars began to rise, police cars also began to be based on new domestic models.[4][7] First, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.'s Toyota Patrol FS20 became the main force, which was based on the Crown and was equipped with Land Cruiser F type engine was deployed in large quantities. In addition, Nissan's Cedric and Isuzu Motors' Bellel were also adopted as base vehicles for police cars, and before long, only domestic models were used as police vehicles.

Kanagawa Prefectural Police's Nissan Fairlady Z 240 ZG

When the expressway system opened, sports cars also has been adopted as base cars for police cars. The Nissan Fairlady Z and the Toyo Kogyo (Later Mazda) Cosmo Sports, etc., were involved in speed control on　expressways. In urban areas where illegal parking has begun to become a problem, light vehicle-based "kei-car" police cars, commonly known as "ミニパト (Hepburn: mini-pato)",[8] begun to play an active role. The base cars included the Suzuki Fronte and the Daihatsu Fellow Max,[4] and they were mainly driven by female police officers (they were called "婦警, Hepburn: fukei" at the time). From the end of the 70's to the 80's, some foreign police cars were revived. The Porsche 911 and BMW 3 series were painted in black and white as marked cars, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles including the W124, was deployed as a unmarked police car. The most notable and famous of these is probably the Niigata Prefectural Police's 1978 Porsche 911SC.[4] This model, which was deployed when the Hokuriku Expressway opened, has also been used as a PR vehicle for the prefectural police and has been in use for over 20 years, which is very unusual for police cars.

TMPD's Mobile Patrol Unit. The vehicle is a fifth generation Subaru Legacy B4.

This is a police car operated by a uniformed police officer, usually two uniformed police officers ride (some rural residential police boxes may have one person). It is assigned to the police station's regional department mobile patrol officer, Traffic Department, Mobile Patrol Unit, Expressway Patrol, etc. Officially, vehicles for traffic enforcement are called "four-wheeled vehicle for traffic enforcement (radio vehicle for traffic enforcement), Japanese: 交通取締用四輪車（交通取締用無線自動車）,[11] Hepburn: kōtsū-torishimariyō-yonrinsha (kōtsū-torishimariyō-musen-jidōsha)", and those mainly for patrol are called "radio patrol vehicle (radio car for patrol), Japanese: 無線警ら車（警ら用無線自動車）,[11] Hepburn: musen-keirasha (keirayō-musen-jidōsha)". In other words, it means it is a car used for traffic enforcement or patrol activities, equipped with a radio for each police department/division. It is a car for official duties such as patrol and traffic control in the city as mentioned above, and it is not a "police officer's" but a car for each enforcement activity of the police department. There are about 9,000 police cars that are purchased with national funds and are deployed in various places nationwide, excluding unmarked police cars.[10]

As of 2022, Toyota Crown is the main marked police car operated in each prefecture, however Subaru Legacy is on the decline, and Yamanashi Prefectural Police operates Toyota Mark X. In addition, the Saitama Prefectural Police operates Nissan Teana as their patrol vehicle.

Yamanashi Prefectural Police's four-wheeled vehicle for traffic enforcement (radio vehicle for traffic enforcement). The vehicle is a first generation Toyota Mark X.

This is the most common and numerous patrol car in the Japanese police force, and it is mainly used in the police activities of the local police, the deterrence of accidents and violations of the traffic police, and the investigation and crime vigilance activities of the detective department. When tailing a suspect in a criminal investigation, it is necessary to conceal the identity of the police from the suspect, so a unmarked police car is used, but in other cases it is a police vehicle rather than an undercover vehicle, so other investigation and crackdowns are carried out in an easy-to-understand marked police car.

Regarding the design of the vehicle, the National Police Agency has a guideline that "the body is painted in black and white, equipped with red warning lights and loudspeakers on the top (roof) and front, and the name of the prefecture is written on the side''.

As stated above, in 1955 (Shōwa 30), in order to distinguish police vehicles from other cars which were mostly white at the time,[5] the lower half was colored with black paint to make damage and dirt less noticeable, considering the road conditions at the time, when there were many unpaved roads.[6] However, there are no detailed regulations, and each prefectural police has a slightly different way of coloring and the shape of the emergency lightning etc.

Gifu Prefectural Police's Expressway Patrol vehicle. Notice the department name written on the front door in white. The vehicle is a thirteenth generation Toyota Crown.

For the character notation on the side, it is divided into "○○県（府）警 (○○-ken (fu) kei)" (example: 大阪府警, Hepburn: Osaka-fukei) and "○○県（北海道）警察 (○○-ken (Hokkaido) keisatsu)" (example: 神奈川県警察, Hepburn: kanagawa-ken-keisatsu). The Kagawa Prefectural Police used to be '香川県警 (Hepburn: kagawa-ken-kei)', but recently introduced vehicles have been changed to "香川県警察 (Hepburn: kagawa-ken-keisatsu). There are also various types of fonts, but in some areas, such as the Ishikawa Prefectural Police, they changed from Ming to Gothic. Currently, only a few departments, such as the Kagoshima Prefectural Police and the Kumamoto Prefectural Police, use the Ming typeface. The Gifu Prefectural Police is the only department in Japan that has their department name written in white on the bottom of the front door only for the Expressway Patrol units, and has no "POLICE" notation. The Aomori Prefectural Police has a white swan illustration on the bottom of the front door.[12] The Ōita Prefectural Police used to have a vehicle equipped with a mixture of red and blue warning lights like American police vehicles, but these vehicles were used for guarding the Imperial House. Normally, it is customary for the marked patrol cars, which are usually in charge of leading the convoy in the Imperial motorcade, to use cars with one side or part of the lightbar or its cover changed to blue, but in recent years, the red lights have been left as they are, and the method of adding a detachable streamlined blue warning light became mainstream. In December 2008 (Heisei 20), when guarding the China-Japan-South Korea Summit Meeting held in Fukuoka Prefecture, it was equipped with warning lights of different colors for each country in order to identify the vehicles to be guarded. Japan used red and blue mixed front warning lights, for South Korea used red and blue mixed warning lights, and for China used red and green mixed warning lights.

In addition, some police cars owned by the U.S. Forces in Japan are equipped with blue and red warning lights (in the United States, red flashing lights are for emergency vehicles, and blue flashing lights are for police cars, so both are used). Also, in 2007, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department decided to use a yellow reflective material for the letters "POLICE" on the left and right doors and the rear bumper, so that foreigners could recognize it as a police car and for reasons such as improving visibility, and decal graphics made of reflective material with a design of the insignia on the police notebook.[13] Police cars are not equipped with red warning lights and sirens because they are police vehicles, but rather installed as safety equipment for emergency driving of emergency vehicles stipulated by the Road Traffic Act. In order to prevent the police car from causing an accident when traveling at high speed while responding to the destination, the safety equipments (warning lights and sirens) are equipped to warn other vehicles and pedestrians on the road that there is a police vehicle responding by sight (light of warning light) and hearing (sound of siren).

Police cars differ in displacement and output depending on the type and purpose. In descending order, Expressway Patrol/Traffic Enforcement police car (displacement 3,500-2,000 cc), patrol car (2,500-1,900 cc), mini police car (so-called "mini-pato", 1,500-660 cc). For this reason, there are mainly no vehicle transfer across divisions and/or departments (e.g. vehicle transfer from Mobile Patrol Division to Expressway Patrol)^{[Note 1]}, so a new orders are placed for dedicated vehicles for each unit. However, there are cases where sports cars are ordered by donation or by the prefectural police's own policy, and among them, Nissan Fairlady Z has a track record of introducing all successive models as police cars.

In addition, many patrol cars have the affiliated police station/unit name abbreviation (code) and vehicle identification number written on the roof, and the TMPD and some police headquarters also have this notation on the windshield. For example, if unit 1 belonging to the Kōjimachi Police Station of the TMPD has "麹町1" (Hepburn: "Kojimachi 1") on the windshield, "麹1" ("Kōji 1") on the roof, "302" for "keishi" unit 302, which belongs to Headquarters, "高速3" (kōsoku 3) for unit No. 3 belonging to the Expressway Patrol, "速3" (soku 3) on the roof, etc.

Since it also serves as an identification signal for police radios, police officers are required to give their unit number (call sign) at the beginning of any radio communication. For example, in the case of the Keishi No. 217 car of the TMPD, it would be "From Keishi 217 to TMPD, turning left near the 〇〇 intersection and heading south." In particular, the unit number on the roof is called "aircraft notation", and it is intended for the air crew to easily see and understand which unit when operating a helicopter communicates with the vehicle on the ground by radio. Therefore, basic police radios are mostly not installed in traffic enforcement vehicles such as "mini-pato"s, and many Kōban police boxes or police station vehicles do not have aircraft notation. It is usually not displayed on unmarked police cars because it would break the purpose of being concealed.

Tochigi Prefectural Police Nissan GT-R R-35 on track at Twin Ring Motegi during the 2018 Super GT Series

Some prefectural police forces have operated numerous high-performance police vehicles in their fleets, with a notable example being the Tochigi Prefectural Police. High-performance vehicles operated by these forces include the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, Nissan GT-R R35, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Honda NSX, Nissan 370z and Lexus LC 500. Alongside regular use for traffic enforcement on the various expressways of Japan, these high-performance vehicles are often used for publicity and ceremonial purposes. On some occasions, these vehicles have donated to prefectural police forces by either private owners or vehicle manufacturers.[14][15][16]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Japanese police used Ford Mustangs such as the Ford Mustang Mach 1.[17]

Fukuoka Prefectural Police's fourth generation Suzuki Every "mini-pato"

"Mini-pato" mini police cars got its name from the Japanese term for police car "パトカー (Hepburn: patokā), and "mini" added onto it since it is a compact car mainly used for traffic enforcement, Kōbans, and other purposes that does not need full-sized police vehicles. Mini-patos are vehicles 1,500 cc or less, total length of 4,500 mm or less and fits within the "5-number" vehicle class code size frame (There are exceptions such as the Suzuki SX4, which is treated as 3 numbers with a total width exceeding 1,700 mm.) This is a police car using a compact car or light "kei"car, and has two types of marked "uniformed" police car and marked police car, however in general, what is called a mini-pato in the field is a "small patrol vehicle" deployed at Kōban police boxes or police stations relatively far from the main station, and/or light vehicles that is used exclusively for the enforcement of illegal parking and for controlling and directing traffic on the street - marked police car of about 1,500 cc (It seems that it is often called "mini pato" even by the officers). The former, called a "compact patrol vehicle", was deployed for the first time in 1974 to 100 police stations with severe road and weather conditions nationwide (Shōwa 50 edition "White Paper on Police"). A large number of 1,000 cc - 1,500 cc class vehicles were introduced by the government (National Police Agency) at national expense and deployed nationwide, so there are relatively many opportunities to see them on the streets of Japan. Depending on the fiscal year, bidding may be done with 4WD designation, and if bidding for 2WD vehicles is also done, two models may be deployed in that fiscal year.

In addition, there are quite a few procurements with prefectural expenses, and in that case, models different from those procured by the government may be introduced. The latter, which is often called a "mini-pato" in the field, often adopts a kei-car, especially in large metropolitan areas such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, since it is effective on congested roads where it is difficult to secure even a space for full-sizedpatrol cars to stop during enforcements. In local cities, there is a tendency to adopt a class so-called liter car, and it seems that durability is taken into account because the jurisdiction is wide and the travel distance is relatively long. Since most of the procurement is funded by prefectural governments, there is no standardized model nationwide. Equipped with a red revolving light and a siren amplifier, it is designated as an emergency vehicle by the Road Traffic Act Ordinance.

Hokkaido Prefectural Police's first generation Suzuki Solio

• Toyota Passo (2007/2008/2009/2012)
• Toyota Platz (2001/2004)
• Honda Insight (2009)
• Suzuki Swift (2000/2002/2003/2005/2015/2018/2019/2020)
• Suzuki Solio (2006/2007/2009/2011/2013/2014/2017)

Chiba Prefectural Police's second generation Honda Insight

Kanagawa Prefectural Police's Toyota Platz

Osaka Prefectural Police's second generation Toyota Passo

☆ is a light "kei-car", ★ is a compact car with a "3-number" standard body

• Toyota Starlet
• Daihatsu Cami
• Daihatsu Rush
• Toyota Vitz (KSP90/NCP95)
• Toyota Belta (NCP96)
• Toyota FunCargo
• Toyota ist
• Toyota Corolla Axio/Corolla Axio EX (NZE164)

• Toyota Roomy/Tank

• Nissan March
• Nissan Cube
• Nissan Note
• Nissan Sunny (FB15)
• Nissan Pulsar Sedan (N14/N15)
• Nissan Tiida Latio
• Nissan Latio
• Mazda Demio

• Mazda Familia Sedan

• Mitsubishi Toppo BJ ☆
• Mitsubishi Colt
• Mitsubish Lancer Sedan (excluding Sedia)
• Suzuki Kei ☆
• Subaru Impreza Sedan (2nd generation 1.5L model only)
• Subaru Justy (Japan spec 2nd generation only)
• Subaru Pleo (first generation only)
• Daihatsu Sharade Social
• Daihatsu Storia
• Daihatsu Atrai7
• Daihatsu Terios
• Daihatsu Terios Kid ☆
• Daihatsu Boon
• Daihatsu Be-go
• Daihatsu Thor
• Suzuki Cultus Esteem/Cultus Crescent/Cultus Sedan
• Suzuki Aerio/Aerio Sedan
• Suzuki SX4 ★/SX4 Sedan ★
• Suzuki Ignis
• Suzuki Hustler ☆
• Suzuki Xbee
• Suzuki Baleno ★
• Suzuki Jimny Sierra (Including Jimny Wide)
• Mazda Demio
• Mazda Axela Sedan (first generation 1.5L model only) ★
• Honda Vezel

Additionally, kei-cars such as Daihatsu Mira (including Gino, e:S, Tocot), Esse, Cast (Style), Hijet Cargo, Mistubishi Minica, Suzuki Alto (including Lapin), and Every are often seen especially in metropolitan areas such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Regarding about the equipment, it is usually simpler than a marked police car such as an Crown called a radio patrol vehicle, and it is often not equipped with a speed radar or an in-vehicle radio. For this reason, many police headquarters have established guidelines for the operation of small patrol vehicles, requiring police officers riding in them to carry portable radios or radio receivers. Antenna(s) are installed in many vehicles, and it is often operated by connecting the cable to the radio. Some vehicles are equipped with data communication terminals and car location systems.

Also, in recent years, radio patrol vehicles have been equipped with navigation systems, but they are rarely equipped most likely because they are not so necessary due to operational characteristics. Unlike radio patrol vehicles, it is based on a publicly-available vehicles rather than a "police package" trim, so the equipment of the base car is left as it is. The red warning light is equipped with a small diffused warning light, but the boomerang "V-type" type is the same as other police cars.

Example of TA antennas

As a distinctive freature on the exterior, there are antenna(s) for police radio.[18] Normally, a camouflaged antenna that does not make you think that it is equipped with a radio is used. In the old days, the "F-1 type antenna" that imitated a radio antenna attached to the fender and the type that imitated a personal radio antennas were used, and in the 1990s, the "TL antenna" that imitated a car phone antenna became mainstream.

For each of them, due to disadvantages of "since the original radio antenna exists, it looks like there are two radio antennas", "decrease in general vehicles equipped with personal radio", "decrease in car phones due to the spread of mobile phones, and low spread rate of the same type antenna as mobile phone options", it became widely spread and recognized by the general public that antennas are "like the symbol of the unmarked police car", and lacks confidentiality. For this reason, since the early 2000s, it has been replaced with a "TA antenna" that is disguised as the diversity antenna of an in-vehicle analog TV.[18][19]

However, with the start of the digital television broadcasting in Japan, film antennas have become more mainstream for television viewing in general vehicles, and the confidentiality of the TA type has also declined, so film antennas adjusted to the frequency of police radios and plastic-outer short rod-shaped antennas commonly known as "euro antennas" (manufactured by Nippon Antenna: MG-UV-TP, WH-UV-TP, etc.), which are currently the mainstream of radio antennas. However, as an exception, some prefectural police use antennas disguised as whip antennas for amateur radio.

A fourteenth generation Crown with its rotating lights in its ascended position

An example of a four-wheeled vehicle for traffic enforcement (rotating warning light). It is a thirteenth generation Crown that has warning lights in the front grill, euro antenna, and the two-stage rearview mirror installed.

The four-wheeled vehicle for traffic enforcement (rotating warning light) has a red warning light stored in the roof of the vehicle, just like a escort vehicle (It is called the "rotating type" because it used to be stored 180 degrees in the roof, but the current type is lying on its side in the storage space and exposed to the outside by a link mechanism that interlocks with the movement of the lid to open). In addition, it seems that very early unmarked

police cars' rotating light only ascended and descended and did not rotate up into position,[20] and you can watch the video of the masked police car introduced in 1967.

Unmarked traffic patrol cars are deployed in Traffic Enforcement Units (traffic corps), Expressway Patrol (high-speed corps), and traffic departments of police stations (district police stations), and mainly carry out traffic control and enforcement. Vehicles in units such as traffic enforcement unit that enforce traffic violations have a red warning light stored in the center of the roof that automatically rotates and rises when a switch is operated inside the vehicle. Therefore, there is a recess/void (sometimes called a "washbowl" due to its shape) in the roof of the car where the rotating light is stored.

In addition, the police officers riding in the car primarily to wear the blue uniform of the traffic enforcement unit or the black uniform made of synthetic leather in principle, so if you look closely inside the car, you can tell that it is a police vehicle. As an exception, there are vehicles that use magnet-type red lights in the same way as investigation vehicles, such as vehicles for fighting against bōsōzoku motorcycle gangs (maru-sou) in various places and even the Traffic Enforcement Units can be dispatched in plain clothes. Some vehicles have a function to display "FOLLOW ME" or "SLOW DOWN" on the electric display board installed in the rear tray.

Unmarked traffic police cars, like marked police cars, have their own grades for each automaker. However, since there is less demand than marked police cars, there are fewer models, and currently only the Toyota Crown is set as a catalog model. However, as described in the marked police car section, the majority of cases are purchased by the prefectural police unit, purchased in bulk by the National Police Agency through general competitive bidding, or donated, so there are also many unmarked police cars based on general civilian vehicles. During the bubble economy, in order to reduce the trade surplus, there were cases in which foreign-made luxury vehicles such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW were purchased with government funds and deployed in the expressway patrol units of major prefectural police.

The vehicle price is 33,311,640 yen for 4 units (8,327,910 yen per unit), as an example of the Toyota Mark X purchased by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and deployed to the traffic riot police in 2016. However, it is a sports model equipped with a 3.5-liter V6-cylinder engine, a specially developed supercharger and ECU, and a special specification with increased torque and horsepower[21].

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  A twelfth generation Crown with an "auto-cover" warning light in the front bumper and TA antennas on the left and right sides of the upper rear glass
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  A twelfth generation Crown with warning lights in the front grill and TA antennas on the left and right sides of the rear glass
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  A twelfth generation Crown for traffic enforcement of the TMPD with TA antennas