Photo= Gion police box has started operating as a foreign language service model police box (Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City)

Leading the country, "Higashiyama-sho Gion Koban," a police box in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, began operating as Kyoto Prefecture's first "foreign language service model police box," where police officers who can proficiently converse in English are stationed 24 hours a day, on October 3.

This move is a part of the improvements in response capability aiming for globalization ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Tablets adaptable to approximately 30 languages and two-dimensional codes known as "QR codes," which display the routes to major tourist sites, have been prepared.

In the opening ceremony, a sign stating "POLICE" was posted at the police box. A police lieutenant who has experience studying abroad in the United States, said, "I want to assist visitors so they will want to come back to Kyoto again."