Why do JLPT N5 learners confuse 郵便局 with 交番?

Both words occupy adjacent semantic territory, which is exactly why the JLPT uses them as distractors for each other on multiple-choice items. The fastest way to stop confusing them is to study them as a pair, write a one-sentence contrast in your own words, and drill the pair specifically rather than each word in isolation.

Is 郵便局 or 交番 more common on JLPT N5?

Both appear in the JLPT N5 curriculum and either may show up on a given exam. Don't try to predict which one the test will choose — learn to distinguish them and you'll be safe regardless. Both belong to the Places & Directions theme of N5 vocabulary.

How do I practice this confusion pair?

Free option: visit /try and pick a confusion drill. Paid option: none — JLPT Mastery is free during launch. Whichever route you take, the engine specifically re-tests pairs you've gotten wrong rather than rotating through general vocabulary review.

JLPT N5 · Beginner · Meaning confusion

郵便局 vs 交番

Q: What's the difference between 郵便局 and 交番?

郵便局 (ゆうびんきょく) means "post office" and 交番 (こうばん) means "police box". Both are small, ubiquitous neighborhood service buildings. Learners may group them together as 'local government facilities' and mix up their specific names in conversation.

Why JLPT N5 learners mix up 郵便局 (ゆうびんきょく, “post office”) and 交番 (こうばん, “police box”).

郵便局

ゆうびんきょく

post office

noun

交番

こうばん

police box

noun

Theme: Places & DirectionsJLPT N5

Why these get confused

Both are small, ubiquitous neighborhood service buildings. Learners may group them together as 'local government facilities' and mix up their specific names in conversation.

How to tell them apart

Anchor on the meaning, not the form. 郵便局 (post office) and 交番 (police box) live in adjacent semantic territory. Memorize the boundary, not just each word.
Read the example sentences below. Seeing each word in its natural context builds a faster lookup than studying the dictionary form alone.

In a sentence

郵便局 (post office)

郵便局で切手を買います。
郵便局は駅の隣にあります。

交番 (police box)

交番で道を聞きました。
交番は駅の前にあります。

How JLPT tests this pair

On JLPT N5, this pair shows up as a vocabulary meaning question. You see one word and pick its English equivalent from four options — one of which will be the other word in this pair, chosen as a distractor precisely because of the overlap.

Sample item

「郵便局」の意味は？