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Tokugawa :: Transitional Police :: French Model :: Meiji Era Police :: Army :: Taisho-Showa Era Police :: Post WWII Police :: Imperial Guard :: Kendo
Tokugawa
Japan's
success in law enforcement is due to "the structures of control in
Tokugawa Japanese society [which] were convertible to modernized forms
with little loss of effectiveness." Marion J. Levy Jr., Modernization
and the Structure of Societies: A setting for International Affairs Princeton,
1969
"This decentralized pattern was also true of the law enforcement structures within the domains. It was the deliberate policy of domain administrations to place the burden of policing on the private sector... The han government maintained a reactive rather than active posture where rural policing was concerned." (Leavell 50)
Between 1600-1867
police work was performed by the military and citizens.
Magistrates (machi bugyo) with samurai status were the chief of police
and fulfilled the duty of prosecutor and judge as well. Keep this in mind
when reading about the Administrative Police Regulations
(gyosei keisatsu kisoku) of 1875.
Okayama
as an example for our study
The
following information in GREEN font is from Leavell's study of
the Okyama domain (17th century). Thus some titles and job assignments
may conflict with information recorded in other regions.
gundai
(magistrate of rural affairs) appointed by the daimyo and highest paid
150 hyo
kori kaisho (rural affairs office)
monogashira (task commander)
machi bugyo (municipal magistrate)
ometsuke (chief inspector)...metsuke (inspector)
kori
bugyo and daikan managed economics and connected the castle town with
rural areas
kori bugyo determine tax rate for agriculture, investigated religious
activity, patrolled villages and observed travelling merchants and peddlars.
Prohibitions from the castle town was communicated to rural areas through
this office.
1676/1682 kori bugyo and daikan...number reduced over time and finally moved back to the castle towns
1682 gun metsuke (district inspector) who took the role of official investigator of administrative crime (white collar crim) and corruption. Gun metsuke frequently summoned ojoya (grand village headmen), or nanushi (village leaders), to accompany them on roiunds
1704-1867-8
highest official was zaigata shimoyakunin (rural subofficial) who were
the links between the samurai bureaucracy and peasant hiearchy. Shimoyakunin
received the rank of kachi (senior petty officer), 30 hyo stipend
and surnames/swords.
Directly
below the shimoyakunin were the ojoya (grand village headmen).
Ojoya (grand village headmen) deliver offenders to the samurai officials.
Nanushi (village leaders), in most cases an inherited post. reported rumors to the ojoya and served as a vigilante leader and jurist. Nanushi also supervised gonin gumi "Five Family Associations" (see the "Citizens" section)
Ometsuke
and metsuke Inspectors
Magistrates were assisted
by inspectors (metsuke). I have also come across the term machi metsuke.
Metsuke spied on officials, other samurai and groups with an anti-government
stance
Magistrates gave duties
to police sergeants (yoriki) and officers (doshin). Yoriki had access
to horses while doshin did not. The
term yoriki uses the Sino-Japanese character "ki" which contains
the kanji for horse.
Officers (doshin)
were often from the lowest level of the samurai class (ashigaru). They
received an annual salary of 40 hyo to control the urban population, arrest,
interrogate, arraign criminals and provide security to daimyo travelling
through their jurisdiction. The lodging houses for daimyo were called
honjin and became check points for doshin security.
Semiofficial detectives
(meakashi or okappiki) were at the lowest level and carried only a short
metal truncheon (jitte). In
Edo, meakashi or okappiki were paid from the taxes collected from the
Yoshiwara red-light district. Meakashi were effective in gathering information
because they were closer to the populus while the samurai rank of the
doshin became and obstacle in such work. Detectives also were at times
from the lower class, or former outlaws who turned to helping the government
to save themselves from execution.
Yakuza
The
"lower class" or "former outlaws" were often yakuza.
The term "yakuza" is an extremely broad term, just as the word
"samurai" is deceiving. Oyabun (godfathers or branch boss to
a much larger syndicate) were granted the right to wear daisho (short
and long sword denoting samurai rank), and family names during a five
year period during the Tokugawa. The relationship between law enforcement
and the criminal element still exists in the modern police system. Below
is a basic chart illustrating the demographic spectrum of yakuza.
from
Kaplan...
tekiya
peddlers, frequently local authorities will have oyabun ("godfathers"
collect rental fees from peddlers working at temple festivals)
bakuto gamblers
kabuki-mono (crazy ones)
hatamoto-yakko (usually low level samurai
who frequently raided towns)
machi yakko (yakuza see themselves as descendents)
clerks shopkeepers innkeepers and artisans fought with hatamoto-yakko
thereby making the machi yakko, yakuza, folk
heroes in the eyes of the people.
Outcastes
in Law Enforcement
"When
possible, villagers employed outcastes to do the actual arresting"
(Leavell 18)
From
feudal to present times there exists an outcaste class known as the eta,
hinin or burakumin (the more modern term). In the Okayama domain hinin
supervised yama no mono, beggars, in any case all term are derogatory
as they label these people as "non human". These pariah were
connected to occupations which exposed them to blood, human and animal
remains. They were trash collectors, jailors, torturers, executioners,
and beggers. Oddly, they sold of flowers at cemetaries, cared for abandoned
babies and sick travellers.
An eta named Kakuuemon became a spy and set a trend for others in his
caste to enter the profession. Outcastes frequently accompany doshin,
carry the rope for tying criminals (torninawa) tie and transport criminals.
Citizens
Citizens formed gonin
gumi "Five Family Associations" which are precursors to present
day neighborhood organizations which aid the police.
"Associations
in which neighbors assisted each other in a variety of activities, such
as planting rice, building houses, and other aspects of daily living,
were an integral part of the social fabric during the Meiji era. The general
term for these groups is tonari-gumi. In rural areas they were called
burakukai and in urban areas chonaikai. Approximately ten to twenty families
formed one tonari-gumi...tonari-gumi were semiofficial arms of the police
and were used in the general task of keeping order." (Parker 25)
"With regard to crime prevention and detection, the key feature of this control mechanism, the five-man group, was the burden of mutual responsibility imposed by higher authorities. Crimes committed by one member which were detected by higher authorities before being reported by other group members opened all members to the possibility of punishment. In theory it was to the advantage of each member to remain aware of the misdeeds of others and to disclose stuch transgressions to the nanushi with all possible haste." (Leavell 16)
If a member of the gonin gumi wished to travel, he or she must inform the gonin gumi gashira (five-man group leader). Should the individual wish to reside elsewhere he or she must inform the Nanushi (village leaders). A permanent move to other another area required permission from samurai officials. Former village members who wished to return for a visit for more than a few days were entered on the gonin gumi registry. A permanent return required a certificate from his former employer vouching for his or her good conduct. Thus, the gonin gumi, which will continue to exist into the Meiji Era is an example of making the populus part of law enforcement.
Primordial
koban?
Banya
police station were built to "Intimidate thieves by presenting vigilantes
in full view of possilbe wrongdoers." (Leavell 19) The term is often
used interchangeable with night watch stations (yoruban) which were staffed
by members of various gonin gumi. Night watchmen would sound alarms and
catch thieves. More wealthy areas would hire permanent watchmen from the
ashigaru or outcaste class.
Barriers
(Tonari? see Westney)
"The streets of the castle town were intersected
at several locations by fences and gates which were opened in the daytime
and closed for certain hours during the night. Such barriers provided
the police with a ready means of physically containing urban disturbances
as well as restricting mobility during prime evening time burglary periods.
Some neighborhood patrol stations were located at such gates" (Leavell
44)
[p46]
"In Edo and other castle towns there were similar systems of citizen
patrol. In Edo the stations were called jishinban. Another type of control
station, called a tsujiban (intersetion station)."
[p47]
"Penalties for Edo tsujibannin who broke regulations were severe.
A bannin who, during his patrol, hapened to find some money or an article
valued at more than 1 ryo and failed to report it was subject to the death
penalty. If he found something worth less than 1 ryo and attempted to
keep it, he would be tattooed and whipped. For failure to care for an
assault victim in his jurisdiction or for attempting to hide a corpse,
he would be exiled from Edo. For driving out of his jurisdiction an abandoned
child or seriously ill person, the bannin could be executed. Gambling
at the tsujiban station drew a penalty of exile to an isolated island."
Tsujiban patrolmen cared for intoxicated individuals, helped them home etc SAME LIKE KOBAN
bannin at times were members of gonin gumi on a rotation basis
"under Tokugawa rule a police system whose primary function was the protection of the people did not exist. The law enforcement officials during this period functioned primarily as instruments charged with the responsibility of keeping the people under control. Some Japanese observers who went abroad were impressed by the courteous and helpful behavior of Western policemen, and they brought back with them the concept that the primary functions of hte police should be to maintain law and order and to protect the people." (Leavell 103)
Westney
"explained that the police department was patterned after a combination
of the Paris Prefecture of Police and the Yokohama Police Department.
While it was the Tokyo Police Department that eventually emerged as the
model for other Japanese police departments, it was Yokohama---partly
because of the large number of foreigners who lived there---that actually
had the first police department in Japan. Westerners residing in Yokohama
were familiar with effective policing and pressed for its development.
Prior to 1868, the foreign community itself was responsible for policing,
and because Englishment were predominant, the Yokohama police reflected
"the English model of organization, drill, patrolling system, and
weaponry."
Samurai
Pensions
"Approximately
one-third of the tax revenues collected in the period from the abolishment
of the han to SAigo's rebellion in 1877 ad to be allocated to these payments.
The government had assumed in addition to this all the debts of the han.
Consequently, about half of the government's total income was expended
to meet these old feudal obligations. In order to ease its financial burdens
the government decided to commute the pensions in 1876. The pensions were
paid off in government bonds that were issued with interest rates varying
in accordance with the former stippends." (Hane 100)
"the lower-class samurai, however, were the ones who were affected most adversely or they experienced an 88 to 98 percent drop in income."
"only 10 percent of the former samurai managed to obtain government positions. Some went into teaching, the army and the police force, but he vast marjoity found it necessary to enter occupations totally alien to their background and aptitude, such as agriculture, commerce, and handicraft work. Some became so impoverished that they were reduced to selling their daughters to the houses of prostitution." (Hane 101)
The issue of pensions was a factor in various rebellions, such as the Seinan War (Satsuma Rebellion), and contributed to the overall success of the Universal Conscription system.
"...to watch with greatest care over everything that might affect the state and its people, and to report all our observations to competent authority. (This) constitutes the political police...We are the ever-open eye of government. Nothing must escape our surveillance...But the political police requires rare tact, delicacy, and rectitude of judgment..." Howard C. Payne, in "Preparation of a Coup d'Etat: Administrative Centralization and Police Powers in France, 1848-1851" Studies in European History in Honor of Franklin Charles Palm (NEW YORK 1956)
Toshiyoshi Kawaji, the founding father of the Japan's modern police system, visited France between 1872-3. The general features of the French system listed below struck me as major influences on Japan's system. Note the emphasis on vigilant surveillance and metaphors in the quote above as Toshiyoshi will incorporate those same ideas in his petition to the new government. I found no detailed English sources which cover the French police system, which was in transition, during the exact dates of Toshiyoshi's visit as France was still recovering from the war with Prussia.
Payne felt that the coup of the second empire was made possible "by the extreme administrative centralization underlying French government in the nineteenth century." (Hamburger 159). A good example of the degree of centralization can be found in law enforcement. Napoleon "gave the Prefect the title of National Director of Public Security; this meant he was now the head of the general police and the police in all the French provinces." (Hamburger 161). The flow of information went straight to the Prefect. Imagine a pyramid structure with a "base" consisting of the municipal levels.
The
police was divided into "preventative" (detection) and "repression"
(chastisement)
Municple Police Structure
commissaire de police
sub-chief
commissaires
officiers de paix
inspecteurs principaux
brigadiers
sergents de ville/ inspecteurs de police
19th
Century "Info Highway"
I will spare you the details of the time period. There was a head of secret
police named Clement Fabre de Lagrange who
is elusive to researchers as there is no dossier or literature on this
man. What we do know is that he used "agents
provocateur" (official spies) extensively to penetrate secret
socities, gain information, and finally convince societies to strike out
against the government. Agents provocateur were used through the Meiji
Era up until modern times. The term actually showed up in connection to
the student riots in Japan during the 1960s when police officers were
keen on rounding up student leaders, and finding the time/date of riots
to deploy the Riot Police (Kidotai or rapid mobilisation
troop).
Lets continue....
[Cabinet Noir] open private correspondences
in order to get info on certain people
[2nd group] known only to the head of the
secret police used to spy on upper social strata
[police du chateau] guard the emperor of
Tuileriers and visible to the public
[indicateurs] part-time semi-professional
who spied on the side for money
*police also spied on each other*
After 1852, some minor
decentralization occurred during which mayors appointed commissaires
to the towns and rural countrysides. Althought the prime duties of the
commissaire was surveillance, they had to have a wide range of knowledge
covering such topics as medicine, architecture and ofcourse the law.
"We are the law...The
state has placed unbounded confidence in us by declaring us absolute masters
in our own offices" PAYNE
[STEAD
54]
"Louis-Marie Debelleyme, in 1829 put one hundred policement into
blue uniforms and cocked hats, by day carrying a cane, by night a saber,
and set them to patrol the streets of the capital. Once of the Prefect's
officials wrote on the value of a civil police uniform:
The purpose of uniform will be constantly to keep in the public's mind
the presence of policement at points where they will be of service; at
the same time to compel them to intervene and restore order instead of
vanishing into the crowd for fear of being noticed, as often happens."
sergents de ville success during the second Empire of Napoleon III 1852-1870
known since 1871 (establishment of the Third Republic 1870-1940) as the gardiens de la paix
[p60]
"The Paris police had the rigorous documentation of the citizen and
his readily ascertained identity and movements as an invaluable detective
resource. They had, moreover, the benefit of the long-established mystique
of police omniscience, something that was certainly ot then enjoyed by
police in New York or London."
Monsieur
Henry head of the ciminal division of the prefeture of police (end of
1st emp 1804-1814)
recruited Vidocq escaped prisoner....spy in the prison
Monsieur Henry wanted a central detective squad which reported to him
not local commissaires
Vidocq in turn employed ex-criminals
Vidocq's organization resulted in the "the Surete"...changed
in 1913 to Police Judiciaire the detective branch of the Prefecture of
POlice
Gendarmerie Nationale (secret and political missions, civilian clothing and disguises)...Legion of Mobile Gendarmerie...forerunner of the gendarmeri Mobile of today
Policing
in France is now primarily the responsibility of two national law enforcement
bodies
the Gendarmerie Nationale, which polices rural areas and small towns,
and
the Police Nationale, which is responsible for policing Paris and provincial
urban jurisdictions with populations of more than 10,000
Meiji
Era Police
"In
line with continental European usage tracing back to the Polizeistaat,
the Meiji founders employed the term 'police' in the broad seventeenth
and eighteenth-century sense of all internal administration rather than
the narrow sense of crime prevention and detection." (Tipton 38)
After 1869, the HEIBUSHO, formerly known as the Gunmukan, chose superior soldiers to perform police duties however they had a very poort track record of fulfilling their roles. The capital was plagued with crime and even daytime armed robberies.
After his return from the trip abroad popularly known as the Iwakura Mission Toshiyoshi Kawaji petitioned the government and "outspokenly favored the establishment of a 'police state' in which the police play a key role in maintaining the "the good health" of the nation by aggressively ferreting out undesirable elements." (Leavell 103) METAPHORS
Okubo Toshimichi was the de facto head of the government from October 1873 to his assasination in May 1878. He created and assumed the post of Minister of Home Affairs. Once the police system was moved to the ministry in 1874 he used them to keep political dissidents under control.
"Yamagata, when he became Home MInister in 1885, reorganized the police to bring them closer to rural society and make them better able to detect and suppress political dissidence." (Smethurst 9)
Demographics
In
1871, 3,000 men were patrolling Tokyo. Around 2,000 were from the Satsuma
domain. I would like to clarify that many were lower-status samurai from
the countryside (goshi).
"This method of choosing men was singularly effective in guaranteeing their staunchness and relative immunity from corruption because of a system of morality peculiar to the former warrior class. On the other hand, this practice had certain drawbacks in that i tended to develop in the police an attitude of disrespect and superciliousness toward the people." (Parker 22)
Toshiyoshi
Kawaji's Definition of Police
Toshiyoshi's two most
popular works are his petition to the government, 1873 and "Hand
and Eye of the Police" which was described "as the sacred book
of the police, like the Bible or Koran. Even in postwar period it has
been recommended as indispensable reading for police offiicals for its
'crystallisation of police spirit' " (Tipton 47).
"Hand and Eye of the Police" utilized the "family" metaphor. The government, with the Emperor as a far removed "father", had the duty of teaching the unenlightened people or children. The police were the "nursemaid" or "dry nurse" who must "render kindness with reason and above all, be patient" to the citizens. People often "appealed to Kawaji Toshiyoshi's emphasis on a display of benevolence and support towards the people and noted the necessity of patience, prudence and composure." (Tipton 81). "No sleep, no rest" became Toshiyoshi's most often used quote.
Another metaphor Toshiyoshi uses is police as "healer, "The police are a daily cure and remedy to a state, as everyday hygiene is to an individual. The police are able to protect good citizens and nurture the active force of a country." (Sugai)
The Problem with LabelsGeneral
Duties
According
to Kanetake-Oura, "There was not lacking a rough element which, dissatisfied
witht he new Government, watched for an opportunity to rise against it.
Moreover, many ruffians at large constituted a danger to the people. The
main object of the police at that time was to arrest these malcontents
and bravadoes. (1910, p. 283)"
"Under the Administrative Police Regulations (gyosei keisatsu kisoku) of 1875 which, with minor alterations, remained in force until 1945, the police not only held power for the prevention of crime and the arrest of offenders but also held administrative jurisdiction over nearly every aspect of economic and social life. The police were responsible for the licensing of bars, restaurants, and brothels, ensuring that regulations concerning health, sanitation, religion, agricultture, construction, and forestry were adhered to, regulating trade union organisations and labour disputes and keeping the population under surveillance through the process of regular surveys. Indeed, police supervision over the lives of the citizen was 'so strict that it even dictated when and how he must clean his house' (Wildes 1954: 181)." (Hill 252)
Suzuki Mikisaburo, police chief in Tsuruoka (Yamagata Prefecture)?, donated money to the building of a hospital. Contributions to hospitals were always handled by the police who also issued awards and certificates to the donors.
"The 1885 Law of Summary Procedure for Police Offences (Ikeizai Sokketsu Rei) empowered police station chiefs to act as prosecutor and judge for minor offences carrying penalties up to 30-days' imprisonment or a Y20 fine" (Hill 252)
"Not only did the police in Meiji Japan have the ability to operate in a semi-judicial capacity; they were also able to make law. Under Article 9 of the 1889 Meiji Constitution, the police were empowered to issue 'ordinances necessary for the carrying out of the laws, or for the maintenance of the public peace and order, and for the promotion of the welfare of the subjects' (Bayley 1976:36)." (Hill 253)
"In short, the prewar police were the powerful, centralised pillar of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Naimusho/Naimu-sho), a super-ministry ith a vast area of jurisdiction...Under the Meiji Constitution there were no provisions for accountability, democratic or otherwise, for the police, and this was reflected in police attitudes towards the people that can best be summarised by the oft-used expression kansom-minpi (respect the authorities and despise the people)." (Hill 253)
Koban
"The structural outline and character of Japan's present-day police
force were already visible in the Meiji era. Features inherited from that
period include the "routine family visits" to households by
police officers and the widely scattered distribution of police boxes---koban
and chuzaisho---throughout the country. (Koban are police boxes or mini-stations
in cities, while chuzaisho are rural police boxes that are residential
in character, typically with a staff of one officer and accomodation for
the officer's family in the rear of the building)." (Parker 21).
During the routine family visits, police gathered information that included
the name, occupation, age and social status of each resident. Special
attention was made for young men who were living alone which may be due
to the belief that this age group fit the profile of potential social
predators.
"the system
of koban and chuzaisho also had its inception during the Meiji period,
and there were more than four hundred police boxes throughout the city
of Tokyo in 1877. In addition to the building themselves, the method of
staffing them has also been preserved, especially in the high ratio of
supervisors to patrolmen. During the Meiji peirod, one officer supervised
three patrolmen at a koban; one walked the beat, one was stationed outside,
and one was on duty inside processing paperwork. The pattern is strikingly
similar today.
Koban were placed at
transportation centers, major intersections, shopping areas, at entrances
to public parks, near the entrances to temple areas, and at other locations
where people congregated and where crime might occur. The term koban had
originallyl been used to identify the dormitory-like buildings in Tokyo
in which police lived, but was later applied to nonresidential urban police
boxes. Police boxes have oficially been called hashutsujo since 1888,
bu the term koban persists." (Parker 23)
By 1884 posting daily weather reports were posted near koban AND station houses to induce the public to go and read the police bulletins.
Japan's
"Info Highway"
"There would be
no household in Japan into which the eyes of the police would not see
and the ears would not hear." (Sugai 1957, p. 4)
Citizens (Please see this section in the Tokugawa section)
Rural
[Smethurst65]
"Policemen were not needed in hamlets and villages because local
internal cohesion and social sanctions maintained order and obviated the
need for close surveillance and because the youth and reservist branches
undertook many local policing functions."
chuzaisho
Uniforms
"Meiji police
leaders wanted harmonious police-public relations. This was the reason
for intially arming patrolmen only with sticks. Following the Western
examples police officers later came to wear swords. Because the privilege
of wearing a sword was the traditional Japanese symbol of superior class
status and power of life and death over subordinates, this part of the
police officer's uniform enhance his sense of authority over the people."
(Tipton 50). Tipton uses the word "sticks" from what I have
noticed about policemen in art, they often carried staffs. It is not clear
whether or not the Japanese police followed the French example of carrying
sabers at night. The wearing of swords in the aforementioned situation
is not to be confused with the sword bearing police units who were used
to suppress riots during the Meiji Era.
Yamagata
Aritomo
hackett said (via smethurst)
Yamagata A. "from very early in his career felt "impelled by
a desire to erect a strong unified imperial order and [was] driven by
the conviction that the free play of political forces was detrimental
to this end."
1890 Yamagata was
the prime minister
[smethurst11]
"Yamagata sponsors the Imperial Rescript on Education" whcih
set the basic values of education. The Rescript espoused such ideals as
working for collective national, not individual goals, reverence for the
emperor, and obedience to those in authority. Beginning from this decade,
elementary school children heard the Rescript read at periodic school
ceremonies and spent part of each week learning about the virtues of cooperation,
self-sacrifice, Japan, and even of her military."
"Their teachers were well trained to give this kind of education. Not only did they study highly patriotic and militaristic normal school curricula---many normal school presidents were retired officers---but they also participated in a special conscription program for the graduates of teachers' college. The army exampted teachers from the normal two-year service obligation and instead called them to the colors for six months of intensive military training and indoctrination. The army's aim was to send the teachers back to their charges full of zeal."
Initially, Okubo Toshimichi wanted a national army made up of the former samurai of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa. The foundation of the Imperial Army can be found in the GUNMUKAN (Military Department), later known as the HEIBUSHO, established after the revolution. High-level samurai (joka no shi) from castle towns joined the army and navy in great numbers.
Omura Masujiro wanted universal conscription and earned the hatred of the shizoku (ex-samurai) who believed that Omura's plan would deprive them of their traditional role. Omura was assasinated and replaced by Yamagata Aritomo who created a modern army using universal conscription in January 1873.
All male subjects, with some exceptions became liable for military conscription at the age of twenty.
What led to the unpopularity of conscription was due to the use of the term "blood tax". It was rumored that the young men would be killed and then turned over to foreigners who would extract oil from their corpses to be used for food. As a result, uprisings protesting military conscription, the new education system and solar calendar broke out in different parts of the country. Universal conscription was in general a reasonable option for many peasants who appreciated the free clothes, food, board and education. The propaganda which championed conscription frequently depicts a soldier and young woman holding a white dove or a young woman looking towards a soldier, who is facing the audience.
In 1873, Yamagata stated that "If boys enter grammar school at six, high school at thirteen, and graduate at nineteen, after which from their twentieth year, they spend a few years as soldiers, in the end all will become soldiers and no one will be without education. In due course, the nation will become a great civil and military university." (Hackett 65). Thus, there was a move to militarize the citizenry. Part of the success of the modern police system is the process of turning every citizen into a vigilant enforcer of the law.
[Smethurst6]
Tanaka Giichi (successor to Yamagata in the early 1900s)
Tanaka said that the army was the "final national school"..."All
citizens are soldiers" meant not only that all citizens had a legal
obligation to serve in military, but also that they had to be educated
to be like soldiers all of the time. To Tanaka, the conscription system
helped build this crucial aspect of a social basis for militarism"
Seinan War (Satsuma Rebellion 1876-7)
During the Seinan War, Yamagata Aritomo opposed all plans to recruit samurai forces because he wanted to support conscript army. He finally allowed samurai to enlist as prefectural police and then they are organized into fighting units.
"...the Tokyo Metropolitan Police was seeking new recruits. The agency had decided to send volunteers from its own ranks to fight in the war, but because many in the force were from Aizu and only too glad to go, there had been a sudden shortage in personnel." (Goro 143). It is worth mentioning that the TMPD was abolished in January 1877 and essentially converted into a military mode. Thus, the word volunteer may have been misapplied as many members of the TMPD may have felt economic pressures and decided to continue in whatever capacity the department become.
YATES[p157]
1873 SAigo left Tokyo with Kirino Toshiaki
led by Shinohara Kunimoto 400 members of the Imperial Guard wient with
him
LEAVELL ToshK returned from study tour abroad on 1873
eto Shimpei, Itagaki Taiskue supported SAigo
Okubo Toshimichi, Kido Koin, Iwakura Tomomi = domestic reform
Saigo resigned
[p80]
"Some expressed surprise that Kawaji was not among this group because
of his debt to SAigo"
Kawaji became a major-general army of 3600 police brigade
9500 police from the Keishihonsho sent to Kyushu and Kansai
775 died from these units
Satsuma song
'Were it not for the Imperial Guard artillery
and the Police Brigade we could advance to beautiful Edo"
45 million yen (10 million pounds) used by the Imperial gov.
By 1883 all men in the army were supplied by the conscription laws
The army will shift from the French model, chosen in 1870, to a Prussian/German model in 1883. Yamagata Aritomo had wanted to the army to adopt the German system since 1870, after his return from Europe, however very few Japanese had studied the German language.
Gen. Nogi Maresuke
lost his regimental flag during SEinan and was about to disembowel himself
but was ordered to refrain by the Emperor....
Gen. Nogi committed seppuku after returning home from the emperor's funeral
(his wife followed him in death) (KIYOTA)
[KIYOTA]
Kagoshima home to 2
popular schools
Taisha-ryu "to abandon" fear, doubt and hesitation
founded Marume Kurando (b. 1540)
Jigen-ryu
"revelation" or to reveal the true self
founded by Zen'kichi (zen monk formerly a samurai)
his student Togo Shigekata studied TAisha-ryu first
the first slash is the final and decisive one
IMperial
troops were told to avoid the first slash of the Kyushu rebels
[p106] "Nevertheless, it was reported that many of its troops were
slashed, their own swords---used to defend themselves from the first slash---sunk
deep into their own bodies. Jigen-ryu students were required to hit trees
hundreds of times daily. Although primitive in its teaching method and
lacking in style, it nevertheless proved itself to be extremely effective
in hand-to hand battlefield combat."
Navy
In 1875 the government
ordered three ironclad warships from England.
As late as 1889, Japan had only three ironclad vessels the three composite
(iron and wood) ships. The navy, modeled after the British prototype,
was dominated by Satsuma men
Soldiers and sailors received and imperial edict in 1882 emphasizing such virtues as loyalty, duty, service, obedience, and valor, while urging the men to abstain from political activities. The edict was also directed to policemen, teachers and other public service sectors.
Pre WWII Police System (Taisho-Showa Eras)
"Inheriting essentially unchanged the organisation established during the Meiji period, police officials continued to look for inspiration to the conceptions enunciated by the founder of the modern Japanese police, Kawaji Toshiyoshi, regarding their role in Japanese society." (Tipton 10)
Tokko (Special Higher Police) established in the Keishicho in 1911
but the Tokko is a
direct descendent of the Tokugawa period where
[p44]
"police power was wielded without limitation for the purpose of maintaining
Tokugawa political power than protecting or promoting the people's interest."
[p46]
"Tokko was one branch of the political police, which specialised
in controlling social movements. It became the most important and prestigious
branch of the political police, though not the exclusive holder of political
police responsibilities. The higher police, for example, dealth with election
control, and the Book Section also performed censorship duties."
[p47]
"people's police ideal" during the Taisho was used to justify
the existence of the Tokko
PSD
Rinalducci page 310
excerpt from "Police
Law Enforcment Regulations" proclaimed 1954 and
revised continuously to this day ofcourse
Article 38-4 the PUBLIC
SAFETY section shall administer the following
duties 1 crime prevention, 2 public safety police 3 guarding and
patrolling 4 security in congested areas 5 traffic police
***directly under
the Public SAfety category is the Public Security
Division and Foreign Affairs section (omitted)***
Article 38.6 The PUBLIC
SECURITY DIVISION shall administer the
following affairs 1. security police (excluding cases involving
foreigners) 2 enforcement of security measures, excluding the
guarding of congested places 3 compilation of plans to cope with
emergencies and their execution to meet any contingency 4 affairs
other than those mentioned in the preceding items, not under the
jurisdiction of other sections
Post WWII Police System---Present Day
Kagoshima curse words can be heard amongst policemen today and amongst the populace
"the Meiji government hit upon one idea to facilitate control of the police force: two-thrids of the men selected came from just one province in Kyushu. This practice of selecting police for the Tokyo Metropolitan Polce Department from othe regions of Japan is still prevalent. It is believed that police officers working in areas away from their place of birth avoid the problems of enfocing the law with relatives and friends" PARKER (?22?)
"The WAy of the
Subject" (Shimin no michi)
"What we call our private life amounts, in the final anaysis, to
the practice of hte WAy of the Subject, and takes on public significance
as we carry out our duty to assist in imperial rule...Thus even while
engaged in private activities, we must never forget our duty to devote
ourselves to the emperor and serve the state. In our country everything
one does---whether he is in government or in private business, whether
he is a parent raising children or a son studying in school---is in fulfillment
of his particular duty as an imperial subject. (Kuno 1978, p.62)"
self image of the police is that of the samurai
During the war, the police was responsible for administering the allocation of economic rescources and rationing food.
AMES [p174]
riot police have a strong sense of espirit de corps
"The organizations of the riot police is modeled directly after the
abolished IMperial Japanese Army....Indeed, if the prewar spirit of bushido
("the way of the warrior", the samurai ethic), as found in the
Imperial Japanese Army, exists anywhere in Japan today, it persists in
the riot police."
visual similarities in the design of the body armor and dark coloring, black/indigo common colors used by kendo practitioners as well
"Officers lead their platoons and compaines by waving a white stick (shikibo) with a colored tassel hanging from the handle end, exactly in the manner of Imperial Japanese Army...Platoon and company commanders are attended by from one to three riot policemen assistant (denrei) during riots and demonstrations, one holding a flag (in the day) or a lighted pole (at night) aloft to identify and pinpoint the location of the officer, the others operating a two-way radio or recording events. This is similar to the attendants who accompanied samurai commanders, one of whom usually carried a banner with the officer's emblem on it."
[p176]
"The riot police are unique in the degree of love (aijo) manifested
between the officers and their men, and in the comradeship (yujo) found
among the men themselves. This type of relationship is found to some extent
among the various police units, but the group nature of riot police work
and life accentuates it. Riot policemen, most of whom are young and single,
live in dormitories within tightly guarded and walled compounds. The demands
of their work schedule allow few friendships to be formed with outsiders.
These relationships of love and comradeship are usually mentioned in conversation
with riot policemen about their life in the riot police. The commander
always attends the weddings of his men, counsels them if they have problems,
visits them when they are sick, and drinks with them off duty."
AMES [p161]
"The samurai image, with its highminded values and ideals, is the
official ideology of the police (the tatemae). Police officers, however,
deal with many of the lower elemnts of society on an intimate daily basis.
They thus share in certain aspects of the subculture on an intimate daily
basis....a fascinating example of this is the use of criminal argot (ingo,
or "hidden language") by detectives and patrolmen, especially
older police officers...Ingo serves the function of mutual recognition
among professional criminals and expresses ideas secretly in such a way
that ordinary people cannot understand, and its development testifies
to the social isolation of these offenders. POlice officers apprehend
and interrogate these criminals and must understand the jargon used by
each group. The police naturaly begin to use these words among themselves
when discussing crime-related topics."
[p156]
"Police self-image in Japan also involves a strong sense of decorum
and dignity like that of the proud samurai. This is vividly portrayed
in two examples of how the police viewed the role of uniformed in controlling
certain kinds of public behavior"
reluctance for uniformed cops to be photographed or filmed coming into direct contact with the thousands of fundoshi clad men in the Naked Festival (hadaka matsuri) or handle streakers or when photographed in uniforms police are to stand straight and not allow loved ones to touch them
[p157]
"The police self-image of masculinity does not preclude an interest
in many cultural activities that are common in Japan, which is consistent
with the traditional samurai ideal that a warrior should also be cultured
(bunbu ryodo)."
police offices filled with potted plants, one case an officer loved pottery, carving of wooden serving trays (ujo bori),
"I once saw the tough crime-prevention section chief, who interrogates prostitutes, juvenile delinquents, and other offenders in his regular duties, stop and quickly rearrange an ikebana display in the lobby of the police station"
ikebana + bonsai can be found in police stations and frequently in koban
"Perhaps the best example of the samurai tradition is the commander of a riot police unit in Tokyo with whom I am acquainted and who, after a day of strenuous duty preparing to battle leftists, puts on his kimono and does calligraphy in the serenity of the Japanese-style drawing room of his home."
[p159]
"A key aspect of police self-image is their attraction to certain
traditional core values in Japanese culture that were very important for
the samurai (as well as gangsters). As we have seen, police strongly identify
with the traditional notions of obligation, loyalty, and human relations
that are summed up by the terms giri-ninjo. Giri-ninjo is instrumental
for the police during interrogation of suspects and in their relationships
with tipsters and gangsters, yet they not only use these values, they
also accept them. The concepts of giri-ninjo are often poignantly expressed
in songs, such as the old naniwa bushi style of narratives (whic frequently
have gangster or parent-child themes) and in old war songs (gunka) from
the army or navy."
While today all households are supposed to be visited twice annually, during this earlier period the frequency was contingent upon one's social status. Property owners and people of high reputation were visited just once a year. People of lesser status---including those who did not own property---were visited twice annually. Finally, those who were unemployed or had criminal records were subjected to three visits annually." (PARKER 23)
Rinalducci LLM, Ralph. The Japanese Police Establishment. Tokyo: Obun Intereurope Limited, 1972.
Prime Minister
National Public Safety Commision
*Rinalducci page 44 "supervises the escort service for the Emperor,
the Empress, the Crown Prince, and other imperial families performed by
the prefectural police and the guarding of the Imperial Palace and imperial
villas, as well as other affairs relating to the Imperial Guard."
has a secretariate and five bureaus and the Criminal Investigation Bureau
which has a Safety Division (Hoan-bu) branch
National Police Agency
Modern
1) superintendent general Keishi-sokan
2) superintendent supervisoer Keishi-kan
3) Chief superintendent Keishi-cho
4) Senior superintendent Keishi-sei
5) Superintendent Keishi
6) Police inspector Keibu
7) Assistant police inspector Keibu-ho
8) police sergeant Junsa-bucho
9) policeman Junsa
title of junsa-cho "senior policeman" (1968)
Rinalducci LLM, Ralph. The Japanese Police Establishment. Tokyo: Obun Intereurope Limited, 1972.
before January 1947 the Imperial Guard was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Ministry more specifially Metropolitan Police Department IMperial Guard Division
In modern times the Imperial Guard is under the control of the National Public Safety Commission
Rinalducci 111
The Imperial Guard Headquarters is responsible for the personal security
of the Emperor, the Empress, the Crown Prince, and other members of the
imperial family, and the security of the Imperial Palace and imperial
viallas, as well as other imperial property
Among 'other affairs within its jurisdiction' are included the escorting of envoys, ambassadors, and ministers during presentation ceremonies of credentials et cetera...
These affairs are handled by the Imperial Guard when they take place within the Imperial Palace grounds, but when the Emperor, Empress or Crown Prince makes a provincial visit, the prefectural police assume charge of security and the Imperial Guard provides protection of a different category. In this instance, the prefectural police and the Imperial Guard cooperate with each other...
The Imperial Guard Headquarters is headed by a chief...The status of the personnel of the Imperial Guard is equivalent to that of general police officers....Headquarters is established in the Imperial Palace grounds in Chiyoda-ku Tokyo"
Rinalducci 207
"The eight ranks--namely, IMperial Guard superintendent supervisor,
Imperial Guard chief superintendent, IMperial Guard senior superintendent,
Imperial Guard superintendent, Imperial Guard inspector, Imperial Guard
assistant inspector, Imperial Guard sergeant and Imperial guardman---correspond
to the ranks of the police. This was enacted in an effort to materialize
a smooth working operation and personnel exchange between the Imperial
Guard officers and the police."
Structure of the Imperial
Guard
4 guard stations at Headquarters
1) Police Affairs Division, Training Section, Accounting SEction
*preservation of official seals*confidential matters* inspection and welfare
of guards
2) Security Division, Security Section, First Guard Section, Second Guard
Section, Patrol and Fire Prevention Section
First Guard (Emperor and Empress)
Second Guard (Crown Prince and Crown Princess and other members of the
imperial family other than the Emperor, Empress, Crown Prince and Crown
Princess)
[TOKESHI 147]
"the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo first organized the
kata from the various schools into a ten-form Keishi-ryu."
[Parker 35]
"Japanese generally have a great interest in martial arts, and the
police are no exception. The police are proud of their skill in this area
and the National Police Agency boasts of their skill and accomplishments:
When a police officer is attacked or resisted by a suspect, he must suppress the resistance and apprehend the suspect with minimum effective force. To do this, police officers eagerly practe judo, kendo [Japanese fencing[, arrest techniques, and marksmanship. Their proficiency in martial arts and marksmanship is so excellent that Japanese police officers often achieve outstanding records in domestic and international competitions. All-Japan annual police championships are held in judo, kendo, arrest techniques, marksmanship and long-distance running to develop police proficiency in martial arts. These competitions also engender esprit de corps and build morale. (1998)
[p60]
"One of the highlights of the field study conducted at Shitaya was
the visit to the "Single Men's Kendo and Judo Tournament." Kendo
is a form of fencing with bamboo sword. Officers, outfitted in medieval
looking robes and wearing face shields, utter war cries as combat is joined.
The contestants received a rousing send-off by the chief at an early morning
ceremonial gathering in the upstairs gym of the Shitaya police station.
This included the beating of a huge drum, a sake toast, and a pep talk
by the cheif. The contestants then traveled twenty minutes to the site
of the tournament, where they met team from eight other police stations...One
of the reasons one rarely encounters an overweight Japanese police officer
is that, as mentioned earlier, all officers are required to take either
judo or kendo, and promotions at the lower levels require proficiency
in these sports."
HURST
[p154]
"The early Meiji government adopted a hostile attitude toward fencing
academies. NOt only did it close the urban dojo, but after forbidding
the wearing of swords on all but formal occasions it abolished them altogether
(except for government officials of high rank who wore Western-style sabers
on formal occasions in the continental European manner)."
Sakakibara Kenkichi
1830
Jikishin kage-ryu former Tokugawa vassal did Gekken or Gekiken show
included famous swordsmen, women with naginata (more and more women became
part of these shows) and use of kusarigama
was an instructor of the Kobusho in 1856
companion of Shogun Iemochi
refused order to join the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
gekken show >>> woodblock print
"redheads"
*Thomas McClatchie (secretary of the Brit. Embassy) an accomplished fencer
from England and was knocked to the floor by Sakakibara's students....MacClatchie
became a student at the dojo
*Jack Binns joined but was puportedly never good at it
*Dr. Erwin Baelz (1849-1927) a German who arrived in Japan in 1878 and
taught pathology at Tokyo Imperial University
[p82] "Baelz was a student at Ken'kichi's dojo, where the most severe
kind of training of that time was observed. He reported that there were
always several students lying on the floor as a result of concussion when
Ken'kichi's shinai landed on their heads, and that students contantly
bounced their heads on the dojo pillars in an attempt to train themselves
to withstand these blows."
Baelz was a major contributor to Japanese medical science his diary is
entitles Berutsu no nikki (The Diary of Baelz)
Ozawa Aijiro kendo practitioner and chief proposer in the Diet of bills to intro kendo into the Meiji school system was a critic of the gekken shows but gave an outline to these shows
HURST
TMPD organized disparate styles into kendo
as a result of police experience in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, members of the police became convinced of the need to fence
Battle of Tahara Castle in Kumamoto the (Batto-tai) routed the rebels in heavy fighting (used sword+spear)
[p157]
Kawaji fought against many of his old Satsuma compatriots, and some members
of the police resigned in disgust to join the revolt
"After the rebellion Kawaji drafted and presented to police leaders a proposal for the "revival of fencing" urging---based upon the success in SAtsuma---that kendo be added to the training of the police force. "Fencing is practiced assiduously in various Western nations. If Japan abolishes fencing, then someday we will have to learn it from them. Now, the saber is nowhere near as sharp as the Japanese sword; so if we abolish Japanese swordsmanship (kempo) and learn to use the WEstern saber, that would be equivalent to throwing away gold and picking up broken roof tiles...Although this may be the age of the gun, the success of the Batto-tai in the Seinan War [Satsuma Rebellion] is more proof of kempo's worth than all other arguments. Moreover, fencing is of great value in training character and instilling diligence."
"It was evident
to police authorities that unified, systematized kata were necessary for
police recruits to learn a single form of fencing that would be useful
to them in the performance of their duties. The solution that authorities
adopted was to creat a series of ten kata selecting one each from the
major ryuha represented by their instructors:
Kyoshin meichi-ryu
Yagyu-ryu
Munen-ryu
Jigen-ryu (dominan lineage from Satsuma)
Hokushin itto-ryu
Hozan-ryu
Jikishin kage-ryu (practiced by Sakakibara Kenkichi)
Kurama-ryu
Risshin-ryu
Asayama ichiden-ryu
Dai Nihon Butokukai will further systematize the body of techniques for training/teaching
MISHIMA TOSHITSUNE (1835-1888) served as head of the Tokyo police from 1885-88 continued Kawaji's policies and recruited fencers from all parts of the country without regard to ryuha affiliation and scheduled major tournaments between them
*known for Mukogaoka
Yayoi shrine nationwide tournament
first tournament was attended by the Emperor and Empress
police dept. compete with Kano Jigoro's Kodokan
[KIYOTA107]
"The Great Japan Martial Virtues Association (Dai Nippon Budokukai),
commonly referred to as the Budokukai, was established in 1895. It unified
various school of swordsmanship, standardized kendo forms, and issued
ranks and titles to skilled kendo practitioners. Kendo was practiced at
middle schools, vocational schools, teachers' colleges, and universities
as an extracurricular activity. Kendo instructors were trained at centers
sponsored by the Budokukai."
[AMES.154]
"The epitome of police subculture is perhaps best seen in the riot
police, the unit of police organization most isolated from normal interaction
with the wider community....The extreme loyalty to the group, the devotion
and concern characterizing the relationship between inferiors and superiors,
and the overt manifestations of patriotism that mark the riot police are
also found, in somewhat different form, in Japanese gangs."
the image of the motorcycle-riding traffic policemen attract young recruits who may or may not have belonged to bosozaku gangs
