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I'm trying to get a stylized translation without too complex kanji for "Mega city police".

The kanji for police for example is too complicated for what I need so I was trying to get the Katakana translation but I did this online and I'm not sure how right or wrong it is.

  1. メガシティポリス (this is the one I would like to use)
  2. メガ 市 ポリス (Unless a version with a kanji in between will make it better)

Which option is better and why? Can you help me decide or tell me a better way? Thanks in advance :)

Edit: Not sure why I got downvoted :( a comment telling me what I'm doing wrong will be helpful. Didn't I came to the right place to ask this maybe?

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    @ericfromabeno When the asker provides their own attempt, it is usually not considered a translation request.
    – Blavius
    Jun 16, 2018 at 14:35
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    The title is way too generic. And it frames the question poorly, and as a result the perspective of the question as well. Perhaps if the problem statement were clear and a overt question asked, it would not be perceived as poorly. I'll edit the question. Do rollback and edit the question again if you feel the intent of your question has been lost.
    – Flaw ♦
    Jun 17, 2018 at 5:45

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「メガシティポリス」 would be a valid and natural-looking transliteration. (Please note that this is not called "translation".)　It just flows on the native level.

「メガ 市{し} ポリス」 would make no sense to us native speakers (if you are trying to appeal to native speakers, too.) This would be possible only if the city's name were actually 「メガ」.

A natural-sounding and non-katakana term would be 「巨大都市警察{きょだいとしけいさつ}」, but you obviously would not go for it.

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  • The city in fact is called "mega city" but I will stick to the first one anyway. Thank you very much for the help
    – Andreu
    Jun 17, 2018 at 18:23
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The katakana form シティ is used in Japan for City” and would be recognised as shown in the “City Hall” below.

City Hall

I think メガ for “mega” is also acceptable this is used in アニメ{anime}. However, even in the “mega city” 都{と} of 東京{とうきょう} or 府{ふ} of 大阪{おおさか} the same words for police and police station are used. While ポリス would be recognised as the foreign word for “police”, the kanji are far more common: 警察{けいさつ} for “police” and 交番{こうばん} for “police station” or “police box”. Police stations differ to other countries, even in big cities there are many smaller neighbourhood 交番{こうばん} serving as a point of assistance for each community. For example, this is one on a suburban street corner is in a large city (over 1 million people) and they can even be found in train stations.

Police Station

Note that they use different words for larger cities rather than using “mega”. 都{と} or 府{ふ} translate better to “metropolis” rather than “mega-city” (メガ市{し}). 市{し} implies a different administrative urban area of fewer wards 区{く}. This not a matter of word choice: city boundaries and status are defined in Japanese law.

While you are free to use katakana for style. I think depending on the context (and cultural accuracy) you ought to consider kanji here instead. I recommend to use 交番{こうばん} rather than ポリス or 警察{けいさつ} unless you need to refer to the police themselves rather than their office.

Note that the kanji 都{と} and 区{く} are always used with the name of the city or district:

東京都{とうきょうと}

Tōkyō metropolitan area

江戸川区{えどがわく}

Edogawa Ward

新町{しんまち}交番{こうばん}

Shinmachi (new town) police box

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    「シティホール仙台」って葬儀場ですけど・・　日本で「シティホール」っていうと「市役所」じゃなくて葬儀場の名前・・・
    – chocolate ♦
    Jun 17, 2018 at 14:49

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