JAPANESE POLICE SYSTEM

By: Alexander L. Zapanta

HISTORY:
 The Japanese government established a European-style civil police system in 1874, under the centralized control of the Police Bureau within the Home
Ministry, to put down internal disturbances and maintain order during the Meiji Restoration. By the 1880s, the police had developed into a nationwide
instrument of government control, providing support for local leaders and enforcing public morality. They acted as general civil administrators, implementing
official policies and thereby facilitating unification and modernization. In rural areas especially, the police had great authority and were accorded the same
mixture of fear and respect as the village head. Their increasing involvement in political affairs was one of the foundations of the authoritarian state in Japan
in the first half of the twentieth century.

 The centralized police system steadily acquired responsibilities, until it controlled almost all aspects of daily life, including fire prevention and mediation of
labor disputes. The system regulated public health, business, factories, and construction, and it issued permits and licenses. The Peace Preservation Law of
1925 gave police the authority to arrest people for "wrong thoughts". Special Higher Police (Tokko) were created to regulate the content of motion pictures,
political meetings, and election campaigns. The Imperial Japanese Army's military police (Kempeitai) and the Imperial Japanese Navy's Tokeitai,
operating under their respective services and the justice and home ministries aided the civilian police in limiting proscribed political activity. After the
Manchurian Incident of 1931, military police assumed greater authority, leading to friction with their civilian counterparts. After 1937 police directed
business activities for the war effort, mobilized labor, and controlled transportation.

 After Japan's surrender in 1945, occupation authorities retained the prewar police structure until a new system was implemented and the Diet passed the
1947 Police Law. Contrary to Japanese proposals for a strong, centralized force to deal with postwar unrest, the police system was decentralized. About 1,600
independent municipal forces were established in cities, towns, and villages with 5,000 inhabitants or more, and a National Rural Police was organized by
prefecture. Civilian control was to be ensured by placing the police under the jurisdiction of public safety commissions controlled by the National Public Safety
Commission in the Office of the Prime Minister. The Home Ministry was abolished and replaced by the less powerful Ministry of Home Affairs, and the police
were stripped of their responsibility for fire protection, public health, and other administrative duties.

 When most of the occupation forces were transferred to Korea in 1950–51, the 75,000 strong National Police Reserve was formed to back up the ordinary
police during civil disturbances, and pressure mounted for a centralized system more compatible with Japanese political preferences. The 1947 Police Law was
amended in 1951 to allow the municipal police of smaller communities to merge with the National Rural Police. Most chose this arrangement, and by 1954
only about 400 cities, towns, and villages still had their own police forces. Under the 1954 amended Police Law, a final restructuring created an even more
centralized system in which local forces were organized by prefectures under a National Police Agency.

 The revised Police Law of 1954, still in effect in the 1990s, preserves some strong points of the postwar system, particularly measures ensuring civilian control
and political neutrality, while allowing for increased centralization. The National Public Safety Commission system has been retained. State responsibility for
maintaining public order has been clarified to include coordination of national and local efforts; centralization of police information, communications, and
record keeping facilities; and national standards for training, uniforms, pay, rank, and promotion. Rural and municipal forces were abolished and integrated
into prefectural forces, which handled basic police matters. Officials and inspectors in various ministries and agencies continue to exercise special police
functions assigned to them in the 1947 Police Law
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
 National Public Safety Commission
The mission of the National Public Safety Commission is to
guarantee the neutrality of the police by insulating the force
from political pressure and to ensure the maintenance of
democratic methods in police administration. The
commission's primary function is to supervise the National
Police Agency, and it has the authority to appoint or dismiss
senior police officers. The commission consists of a chairman,
who holds the rank of minister of state, and five members
appointed by the prime minister with the consent of both
houses of the Diet. The commission operates independently of
the cabinet[1], but liaison and coordination with it are facilitated
by the chairman's being a member of that body.
NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY
 As the central coordinating body for the entire police system, the
National Police Agency determines general standards and policies;
detailed direction of operations is left to the lower echelons. In a
national emergency or large-scale disaster, the agency is authorized
to take command of prefectural police forces. In 1989 the agency
was composed of about 1,100 national civil servants, empowered to
collect information and to formulate and execute national policies.
The agency is headed by a commissioner general who is appointed
by the National Public Safety Commission with the approval of the
prime minister.
 The Central Office includes the Secretariat, with divisions for
general operations, planning, information, finance, management, and
procurement and distribution of police equipment, and five bureaus.
REGIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY BUREAUS
 The National Police Agency has seven regional police bureaus, each responsible for a number of
prefectures. Each is headed by a Director and they are organizationed similar to the Central Office.
They are located in major cities of each geographic region. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police
Department and Hokkaido Prefectural Police Headquarters are excluded from the jurisdiction of
RPBs. Headed by a Director General, each RPB exercises necessary control and supervision over and
provides support services to prefectural police within its jurisdiction, under the authority and orders
of NPA's Commissioner General. Attached to each Regional Police Bureaus is a Regional Police
School which provides police personnel with education and training required of staff officers as well
as other necessary education and training.
Regional Police Bureaus:
 Tohoku - Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima Prefectures
 Kinki - Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, and Wakayama Prefectures
 Shikoku - Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi Prefectures
 Kanto - Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, and
Shizuoka Prefectures
 Chubu - Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Prefectures
 Kyushu - Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Okinawa
Prefectures
 Chugoku - Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi Prefectures
STRENGTH

 As of 2008, the total strength reached approximately

289,800 personnel. The NPA total is about 7,600 with
1,800 police officers, 900 Imperial guards and 4,900
civilians. The Prefectural police total is about 282,200
with 253,400 police officers and 28,800 civilians.
 Nationwide, there are about 13,500 female police
officers and about 11,800 female civilians.
KOBAN SYSTEM:
 Kōbans are substations near major transportation hubs and shopping areas and in residential districts—form the first line of
police response to the public. The Koban system is composed of about 6000 police boxes (Koban) and about 7000
residential police boxes (Chuzaisho). Koban is staffed by relatively small number of police officers (3-5 officers in usual),
and also Chuzaisho is usually staffed by a single officer. About 20 percent of the total police force is assigned to koban.
Staffed by officers working in eight-hour shifts, they serve as a base for foot patrols and usually have both sleeping and
eating facilities for officers on duty but not on watch. In rural areas, residential offices usually are staffed by one police
officer who resides in adjacent family quarters. These officers endeavor to become a part of the community, and their
families often aid in performing official tasks.
 Vigilance at the Koban and Chuzaisho is maintained by standing watch in front or sitting watch inside, enabling police officers
to respond immediately to any incident. While keeping a constant watch, they perform a myriad of routine tasks, such as
receiving crime reports from citizens, handling lost and found articles, counseling citizens in trouble and giving directions.
 Outside their Koban and Chuzaisho, police officers patrol their beats either on foot, by bicycle or by car. While on patrol, they
gain a precise knowledge of the topography and terrain of the area, question suspicious-looking persons, provide traffic
guidance and enforcement, instruct juveniles, rescue the injured, warn citizens of imminent dangers and protect lost children
and those under the influence or intoxicated.
 Radio-equipped patrol cars are deployed at each PPH, police station, Koban and Chuzaisho. Police officers use them for
routine patrol and rapid response. These cars remain in constant radio contact with their police station and the
communications command center of the PPH. When an emergency is reported, this rapid response capability plays a major
role in the quick resolution of such incidents.
 Officers assigned to koban have intimate knowledge of their jurisdictions. One of their primary tasks is to conduct twice-
yearly house-by-house residential surveys of homes in their areas, at which time the head of the household at each address
fills out a residence information card detailing the names, ages, occupations, business addresses, and vehicle registration
numbers of household occupants and the names of relatives living elsewhere. Police take special note of names of the aged
or those living alone who might need special attention in an emergency. They conduct surveys of local businesses and record
employee names and addresses, in addition to such data as which establishments stay open late and which employees might
be expected to work late. Participation in the survey is voluntary, and most citizens cooperate, but an increasing segment of
the population has come to regard the surveys as invasions of privacy.
 Information elicited through the surveys is not centralized but is stored in each police box, where it is used primarily as an
aid to locating people. When a crime occurs or an investigation is under way, however, these files are invaluable in
establishing background data for a case. Specialists from district police stations spend considerable time culling through the
usually poorly filed data maintained in the police boxes.
SPECIAL JUDICIAL POLICE
OFFICIALS:
 Cabinet Office = Imperial guard
 Ministry of Justice = Prison guard
 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare = Narcotics agent

Labor Standards Inspector

 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries =
Authorized Fisheries Supervisor
Officers of Regional Forest Office, under Forestry Agency
 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism =
Coast Guard Officer
 Ministry of Defense = Military police officer
SAFETY, EXCEPT FOR SPECIAL
JUDICIAL POLICE OFFICIALS:
 The National Diet = Diet guard
 Ministry of Justice = Immigration control officer and Immigration
inspector
 Public security intelligence officer (they handle national security
matters both inside and outside the country. Its activities are not
generally known to the public.) = Public prosecutor and Public
prosecutor's assistant officer
 Ministry of Finance = Customs official and Officers of National Tax
Agency
 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare = Quarantine Officer
 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries = Animal
Quarantine Officers and Plant Protection Officer
RANKS:
 Commissioner General (Keisatsu-chō Chōkan): The Chief of National
Police Agency. The rank outside. 1 capacity.
 Superintendent General (Keishi-sōkan): The Chief of Metropolitan Police
Department. 1 capacity.
 Superintendent Supervisor ( Keishi-kan): Deputy Commissioner General,
Deputy Superintendent General, The Chief of Regional Police Bureau, The
Chief of Prefectural Police Headquarters, others. 38 capacity.
 Chief Superintendent ( Keishi-chō): The Chief of Prefectural Police
Headquarters.
 Senior Superintendent (Keishi-sei): The Chief of Police Station.
 Superintendent (Keishi): The Chief of Police Station.
 Police Inspector or Captain (Keibu)
 Assistant Police Inspector or Lieutenant (Keibu-ho)
 Police Sergeant ( Junsa-buchō)
 Senior Police Officer or Corporal (Junsa-chō): Honorary rank.
 Police officer, old Patrolman (Junsa)
PROMOTION AND PAY
 The method of the promotion of police officer differs according to the rank. As a
rule, the promotion to the ranks up to Keibu (Police Inspector) is determined by
examinations. However, there is also the promotion based on recommendation
for those officers who have special skills, a wealth of knowledge and
experiences of specific duties, or a long record of good performance and service.
 The promotion of police officers to ranks above Keishi (Superintendent) is, as a
rule, by recommendation on the basis of evaluation of their ability to carry out
their duties, their experiences and their record of service.
The pay of police officers, same as the other public service personnel, consists
of a monthly salary and various allowances. Considering the nature of duties, a
special pay scale is set up for police officers which is about 10% higher than that
of ordinary national public service personnel.
 As for allowances, the family and commuting allowances are the same as those
of other public service personnel, also additional allowances are paid for such
duties as criminal investigation, traffic control and patrol car driving, these
duties are considered to be extremely dangerous, unpleasant and detrimental to
health. 
UNIFORM OF THE JAPAN POLICE
THAT’S ALL
THANK YOU
AND GOD
BLESS!!!
Estoryahe!!!! ^_^