Police services of the Empire of Japan
Encyclopedia
The of the Empire of Japan
, consisted of numerous police
services, in many cases with overlapping jurisdictions.
s of samurai
status, who served simultaneously as a chief of police
, prosecutor
and judge
. The magistrates were assisted by a professional police force with samurai status officers, and deputized jittemochi commoners with powers of arrest. The citizenry was organized into gonin-gumi (Five-family associations), the forerunner of the tonarigumi
, whose members were collectively responsible for the actions and activities of any one of their members. The official formula used in feudal times to inform a subject that he had been placed under arrest was to simply shout "Go yo!" -- the expression was also used to mean "Official business!" or "Clear the way!"
As part of the modernization of Japan after the Meiji Restoration
, the new Meiji government sent Kawaji Toshiyoshi
on a tour of Europe in 1872 to study various law enforcement systems. He returned impressed with the structure and techniques of the police forces of France
's Third Republic
and of Prussia
as models for the new Japanese police system. With the establishment of the Home Ministry
in 1873, his recommendations were implemented, and civilian police powers were centralized at the national level, although implementation was delegated to the prefectural level.
Under the Home Ministry, the Keihōkyoku (Police Bureau) also had quasi-judicial functions, including the power to issue ordinances, regulate business license
s, construction permit
s, industrial safety and public health
issues, in addition to its criminal investigation and public order functions. The centralized police system steadily acquired responsibilities, until it controlled almost all aspects of daily life, including fire prevention
and mediation of labor disputes.
During the Satsuma Rebellion
of 1877, the lack of an organized, trained standing army
forced the central government to use units from the police bureau as militia
to suppress the uprising.
After 1911, a separate department, the Special Higher Police (Tokko
), was established specifically to deal with political crimes. The Tokko investigated and suppressed potentially subversive ideologies, ranging from anarchism
, communism
, socialism
, and the growing foreign population within Japan, but its scope gradually increased to include religious groups, pacifists
, student activists, liberals, and ultrarightists. The Tokko also regulated the content of motion pictures, political meetings, and election campaigns. The Tokko also had a counter-espionage
function similar to MI5
in Great Britain
.
The military fell under the jurisdiction of the Kempeitai
for the Imperial Japanese Army
and the Tokeitai
for the Imperial Japanese Navy
, although both organizations had overlapping jurisdiction over the civilian population.
After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, military police assumed greater authority, leading to friction with their civilian counterparts. After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
in 1937, police regulated industry and commerce to maximize the war effort and to prevent speculation and hoarding, mobilized labor, and controlled transportation.
Civil police services were also set up overseas (in Korea
, Kwantung Leased Territory
, Taiwan
, Karafuto, some extraterritorial Japan
ese dependencies in Shanghai
, Peking and Tientsin before the war on the Chinese
mainland). Later, from the 1930s period to the Pacific War
other similar but "native" civil police services operated in Manchukuo
, Mengjiang
and the Nanking Nationalist Government. The police and security services in South Pacific Mandate
and occupied Pacific areas were the charge of the Tokeitai.
The Tokyo metropolitan area came under the jurisdiction of the Teikoku Keishichō (帝國警視廳) or Keishichō, which was personally headed by Kawaji from 1874, and from which he could direct the organization of the national police system.
The vague wording of the Peace Preservation Law
s gave all police organizations wide scope for interpretation of what constituted "criminal activity", and under the guise of "maintenance of order", the police were allowed broad powers for surveillance and arrest. Lack of accountability and a tradition of 'guilty until proven innocent' led to the many of the brutalities carried out by the police forces. In rural areas especially, the police had great authority and were accorded the same mixture of fear and respect as the village head. The increasing involvement of the police in political affairs was one of the foundations of the authoritarian state in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century.
After Japan's surrender
in 1945, the American occupation authorities
retained the prewar police structure until a new system was implemented and the Diet of Japan
passed the 1947 Police Law creating the new National Police Agency (Japan)
.
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, consisted of numerous police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
services, in many cases with overlapping jurisdictions.
History and background
During the Tokugawa bakufu (1603-1867), police functions were based on a combination of appointed town magistrateMagistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s of samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
status, who served simultaneously as a chief of police
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
and judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. The magistrates were assisted by a professional police force with samurai status officers, and deputized jittemochi commoners with powers of arrest. The citizenry was organized into gonin-gumi (Five-family associations), the forerunner of the tonarigumi
Tonarigumi
The was the smallest unit of the national mobilization program established by the Japanese government in World War II. It consisted of units consisting of 10-15 households organized for fire fighting, civil defense and internal security. -History & Development:...
, whose members were collectively responsible for the actions and activities of any one of their members. The official formula used in feudal times to inform a subject that he had been placed under arrest was to simply shout "Go yo!" -- the expression was also used to mean "Official business!" or "Clear the way!"
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
, the new Meiji government sent Kawaji Toshiyoshi
Kawaji Toshiyoshi
was a Japanese politician during the Meiji period.In Tokyo Kawaji planned to establish a police system similar to the gens d'armes in France. He traveled to Europe to investigate its police system to help improve the Japanese system.-References:...
on a tour of Europe in 1872 to study various law enforcement systems. He returned impressed with the structure and techniques of the police forces of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
and of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
as models for the new Japanese police system. With the establishment of the Home Ministry
Home Ministry (Japan)
The ' was a Cabinet-level ministry established under the Meiji Constitution that managed the internal affairs of Empire of Japan from 1873-1947...
in 1873, his recommendations were implemented, and civilian police powers were centralized at the national level, although implementation was delegated to the prefectural level.
Under the Home Ministry, the Keihōkyoku (Police Bureau) also had quasi-judicial functions, including the power to issue ordinances, regulate business license
Business license
Business licenses are permits issued by government agencies that allow individuals or companies to conduct business within the government's geographical jurisdiction. It is the authorization to start a business issued by the local government....
s, construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s, industrial safety and public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
issues, in addition to its criminal investigation and public order functions. The centralized police system steadily acquired responsibilities, until it controlled almost all aspects of daily life, including fire prevention
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
and mediation of labor disputes.
During the Satsuma Rebellion
Satsuma Rebellion
The was a revolt of Satsuma ex-samurai against the Meiji government from January 29 to September 24, 1877, 9 years into the Meiji Era. It was the last, and the most serious, of a series of armed uprisings against the new government.-Background:...
of 1877, the lack of an organized, trained standing army
Standing army
A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...
forced the central government to use units from the police bureau as militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
to suppress the uprising.
After 1911, a separate department, the Special Higher Police (Tokko
Tokko
', often shortened to ' was a police force established in 1911 in Japan, specifically to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order....
), was established specifically to deal with political crimes. The Tokko investigated and suppressed potentially subversive ideologies, ranging from anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, and the growing foreign population within Japan, but its scope gradually increased to include religious groups, pacifists
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, student activists, liberals, and ultrarightists. The Tokko also regulated the content of motion pictures, political meetings, and election campaigns. The Tokko also had a counter-espionage
Counter-Espionage
-Cast:* Warren William as Michael Lanyard* Eric Blore as Jamison* Hillary Brooke as Pamela Hart* Thurston Hall as Insp. Crane* Fred Kelsey as Detective Wesley Dickens* Forrest Tucker as Anton Schugg* Matthew Boulton as Inspector J...
function similar to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
The military fell under the jurisdiction of the Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
for the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
and the Tokeitai
Tokeitai
The was the Imperial Japanese Navy's military police, they were equivalent to the Imperial Japanese Army's Kempeitai. They were also the smallest military police service....
for the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
, although both organizations had overlapping jurisdiction over the civilian population.
After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, military police assumed greater authority, leading to friction with their civilian counterparts. After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in 1937, police regulated industry and commerce to maximize the war effort and to prevent speculation and hoarding, mobilized labor, and controlled transportation.
Civil police services were also set up overseas (in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Kwantung Leased Territory
Kwantung Leased Territory
The Kwantung Leased Territory was a territory in the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula in Inner Manchuria that existed from 1898 to 1945. It was one of the numerous territorial concessions that the Empire of China was compelled to award to foreign countries at the end of the 19th century...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Karafuto, some extraterritorial Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese dependencies in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Peking and Tientsin before the war on the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
mainland). Later, from the 1930s period to the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
other similar but "native" civil police services operated in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
, Mengjiang
Mengjiang
Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...
and the Nanking Nationalist Government. The police and security services in South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
and occupied Pacific areas were the charge of the Tokeitai.
The Tokyo metropolitan area came under the jurisdiction of the Teikoku Keishichō (帝國警視廳) or Keishichō, which was personally headed by Kawaji from 1874, and from which he could direct the organization of the national police system.
The vague wording of the Peace Preservation Law
Peace Preservation Law
The Public Security Preservation Laws were a series of laws enacted during the Empire of Japan. Collectively, the laws were designed to suppress political dissent.-the Safety Preservation Law of 1894:...
s gave all police organizations wide scope for interpretation of what constituted "criminal activity", and under the guise of "maintenance of order", the police were allowed broad powers for surveillance and arrest. Lack of accountability and a tradition of 'guilty until proven innocent' led to the many of the brutalities carried out by the police forces. In rural areas especially, the police had great authority and were accorded the same mixture of fear and respect as the village head. The increasing involvement of the police in political affairs was one of the foundations of the authoritarian state in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century.
After Japan's surrender
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
in 1945, the American occupation authorities
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II...
retained the prewar police structure until a new system was implemented and the Diet of Japan
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
passed the 1947 Police Law creating the new National Police Agency (Japan)
National Police Agency (Japan)
The is an agency administered by the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan, and is the central coordinating agency of the Japanese police system....
.
Standard weapons of civil police forces
- Rifles:
- Type 38 RifleType 38 rifleThe is a bolt-action rifle. For a time it was the standard rifle of the Japanese infantry. It was known also as the Type 38 Year Meiji Carbine in Japan. An earlier, similar weapon was the Type 30 Year Meiji Rifle, which was also used alongside it. Both of these weapons were also known as the...
- Type 44 Cavalry RifleType 44 Cavalry RifleThe Type 44 Cavalry Rifle is a Japanese bolt-action rifle. This rifle is also often referred to as a Type 44 Carbine. It was a development of the Arisaka Type 38 Cavalry Rifle, the main difference being the bayonet is a needle type and it can be folded backwards and locks underneath the barrel...
- Type 97 Light Machine GunType 97 Light Machine GunThe was the standard machine gun used in tanks and armored vehicles of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and also as a light machine gun by infantry forces.-Development:...
- Type 38 Rifle
- Pistols & Revolvers:
- Type 26 9 mm Pistol
- Type 14 8 mm Nambu PistolNambu pistolwas a semi-automatic pistol used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy during the First and Second World Wars. The pistol had two variants, the Type A , and the Type 14 .-History:...
- Type 94 8 mm Pistol
See also
- KempeitaiKempeitaiThe was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
- TokeitaiTokeitaiThe was the Imperial Japanese Navy's military police, they were equivalent to the Imperial Japanese Army's Kempeitai. They were also the smallest military police service....
- TokkoTokko', often shortened to ' was a police force established in 1911 in Japan, specifically to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order....
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police DepartmentTokyo Metropolitan Police DepartmentThe Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department serves as the police force for the entire Tokyo metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a superintendent general, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission and approved by the prime minister.The Metropolitan Police, with a staff of more...
- Law enforcement in Japan