Cambodia's first "koban" police box was built in Phnom Penh this week, accompanied by lectures by two Japanese police officers on how to use it to help improve public safety.

The police post cost about $20,000 to build, according to Makoto Sakurai, an official at the Japanese Embassy. The money was donated by his friend, Masahiro Yokota, president of a toy museum in Ikaho, Gunma Prefecture.

There are some 6,623 such posts located throughout Japan, mostly in urban areas. Koban are invariably open, with officers working in shifts, fighting crime and offering assistance in their neighborhoods.

The koban have caught the attention of cities abroad, with Singapore and Sao Paulo already introducing the system.