Japan Police Hierarchy

The name of the police force of Japan is The National Police Agency which is an agency administered by the National Public Safety commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan and is also the central coordination wing of the Japanese police system.

The NPA does not have any police officers of its own but it rather has the role to formulate general standards and policies.  Like any other police force in the world, there is a certain hierarchy followed by the Japan Police as well. According to this, the senior most officers are placed at the top whereas those who are lower in seniority are at subsequent positions. To understand this in depth, let’s take a look at the following given information.

japan police hierarchyCommissioner General

The highest ranking police officer of the Japanese national police agency. Under the power and control of the Commissioner general come two other officers which are given as follows:

  • Deputy commission general
  • Commissioner general’s secretariat

Community Safety Bureau

Criminal Investigation Bureau-Under the CIB comes the following given department:

  • Organized crime department

Traffic Bureau

Security Bureau

  • Foreign affairs and intelligence department of Japan

National Police Academy

Info-communications Bureau

Imperial Guard Headquarters

Regional Bureaus

  •  Tohoku Regional Police Bureau
  • Kanto Regional Police Bureau
  • Chubu Regional Police Bureau
  • Kinki Regional Police Bureau
  • Chugoku Regional Police Bureau
  • Shikoku Regional Police Bureau
  • Kyushu Regional Police Bureau

Communications Departments

  • Tokyo Metropolitan PoliceInfo-Communications Department
  • Hokkaido Police Info-Communications Department

As far as the police officers are concerned, they are divided into nine major ranks, which are given as follows:

  • Commissioner general- Highest title or rank in the NPA and chief of the National Police Agency of Japan
  • Superintendent general-He is the chief of the metropolitan police department
  • Superintendent supervisor-he is the chief of the prefectural police headquarters
  • Chief superintendent-he is the head of the prefectural police headquarters as well.
  • Senior superintendent-he is the chief of the police station of his area of recruitment.
  • Superintendent-he is the vice commanding officer of the police station of his area of recruitment.
  • Police inspector or captain-he is the leader of the riot company and the squad commander of the police station.
  • Assistant police inspector-he is the leader of the riot platoon and squad sub commander of the police station as well.
  • Police sergeant-he is the field supervisor and leader of the police box.
  • Police officer-this is the starting point of a police officer’s journey in the NPA

Know about Japanese Feudal Military Hierarchy.