Former Dongmen Police Station, Chiayi City, Historic police station in East District, Taiwan
The Former Dongmen Police Station is a two-story building from the Japanese colonial period located in East District of Chiayi City, combining traditional and practical design elements. Inside, you can see where administrative work took place and how officers used the space for daily operations.
The police station was built during Japan's occupation of Taiwan and served as a kōban, a policing system that watched over neighborhoods directly. This model shaped the region's approach to security for decades to come.
The building shows how Japanese policing methods took root in Taiwanese society and still shape how people think about community safety. Walking through it, you notice how these ideas were built directly into the daily life of the neighborhood.
The building sits in central Chiayi and is easy to reach, with the original exterior well preserved for viewing. The spaces inside are compact, so a visit takes little time and requires no special preparation.
The building is one of the few surviving examples of a kōban structure in Taiwan, showing a remarkably preserved piece of architectural history. Its condition makes it a rare window into a past policing system.
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