First Female Police Officer Day

What Is First Female Police Officer Day?

Every April 27th is "First Female Police Officer Day" (婦人警官記念日, Fujin Keikan Kinenbi) in Japan. On April 27, 1946, 62 women hired by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on the instruction of GHQ began work as Japan's first female police officers — a historic step in the democratization of Japanese law enforcement during the postwar Allied Occupation. The appointment of women to the police force was part of the broader Occupation-era reform of Japanese institutions, introducing gender equality principles to a profession that had been exclusively male.

The First Female Police Officers

The 62 women who began police service on April 27, 1946 were selected from a larger applicant pool and assigned primarily to work related to women and children — investigating crimes against women, handling family matters, and patrolling areas frequented by women and children. Their initial role reflected both the genuine utility of women officers in cases involving female victims and the limited scope that male-dominated institutions initially assigned to women entering them. Over subsequent decades, the scope of women's police work expanded significantly.

Women in Japan's Police Today

At first, these "fujin keisatsukan" (women police officers) reportedly did not have the power of arrest. The official term was later changed to "josei keisatsukan" (female police officers), and the proportion of women on the force has grown steadily from the pioneering 62 of 1946. In 2013, Japan's first female prefectural police chief took office in Iwate. Japan has worked to increase women's representation in policing through active recruitment campaigns, improvements to work conditions for female officers, and the creation of career paths in all police specializations. Female officers serve in detective units, traffic enforcement, riot police, and all other police functions.

Women in Japanese Public Service

The 1946 female police officer appointments were part of a broader transformation of women's role in Japanese public life — alongside women voting for the first time in a general election (April 1946), the new constitution's gender equality provisions, and the opening of government careers to women. First Female Police Officer Day commemorates this foundational step and the long progress since toward genuine gender integration in Japan's law enforcement institutions.

Fun Facts

• The world's first: The first female police officer in a modern police force is thought to be Marie Owens, hired by the Chicago Police Department in 1891 — about half a century before Japan's first women officers.
• Detective stories: Japanese crime fiction and detective dramas (警察ドラマ, keisatsu dorama) frequently feature female detective protagonists — a reflection of the growing reality of women in investigative roles and audience interest in the distinctive perspectives female investigators bring to crime solving.