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$Unique_ID{COW02012}
$Pretitle{230}
$Title{Japan
Chapter 7D. The National Police System}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Melinda W. Cooke}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{police
national
public
safety
local
riot
forces
officers
agency
prefectural}
$Date{1981}
$Log{}
Country: Japan
Book: Japan, A Country Study
Author: Melinda W. Cooke
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date: 1981
Chapter 7D. The National Police System
In 1871 Japan's newly established government organized the nation's first
civil police force, modeling it along continental European lines. The police
force was used for maintaining order during the government's founding period
and putting down internal disturbances and counterrevolutionary uprisings.
After the 1880s the police developed into a force through which the
government extended its control nationwide. Police officers served "primarily
as roving guardians of public morality, working with local leaders as a
uniformed expression of official approval for the local order." They acted as
nonspecialist civil administrators, disseminating official measures, thereby
facilitating unification and modernization. In rural areas especially they
were held in high esteem and accorded the same mixture of fear and respect
directed toward the village headman and the local schoolmaster. Their
increasing involvement in political affairs became one of the foundations upon
which the twentieth century authoritarian state was erected.
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 issued permits and licenses. After 1937
police directed business activities for the war effort, mobilized labor, and
controlled transportation. Special Higher Police were created to regulate
motion pictures, political meetings, and election campaigns. Military police
operating under the army and navy aided the police in limiting proscribed
political activity.
After the surrender in 1945, occupation authorities retained the prewar
police structure until a new system could be implemented and had the Diet pass
a new 1947 Police Law. Contrary to proposals submitted by the Japanese, which
contended that a strong, centralized force was still needed to deal with
postwar unrest, the police system was decentralized by establishing
approximately 1,600 independent municipal forces and a national rural police
organized by prefectures. Civilian control was to be assured by placing the
police under the jurisdiction of public safety commissions controlled by a
National Public Safety Commission in the Office of the Prime Minister. The
Home Ministry was abolished, and the police were stripped of their
responsibility for fire protection, public health, and other administrative
duties.
The decentralized system was quickly found to be unwieldy, inefficient,
and expensive. It did not provide for exchanges of information among forces
nor for their coordinated employment in cases involving more than one
jurisdiction. Small municipalities could not support police departments, and
accusations of undue influence on local police by community bosses and
gangsters were frequent.
When the bulk of occupation forces were transferred to Korea, the 75,000
man National Police Reserve was formed to back up the ordinary police during
civil disturbances, and pressure for a centralized system mounted. In 1951 the
1947 Police Law was amended to allow smaller communities to merge with the
National Rural Police. Most opted to do so, and by 1954 only about 400 cities,
towns, and villages still had municipal police forces. Under the 1954 Police
Law (as amended) a final restructuring created an even more centralized system
in which local forces were organized by prefectures under a National Police
Agency.
Organization
The revised Police Law of 1954, still in effect in 1981, was designed to
preserve the strong points of the postwar system, particularly those measures
insuring civilian control and political neutralism, while rectifying proven
organizational defects. The Public Safety Commission system was retained.
State responsibility for maintaining public order was clarified to include
coordination of national and local efforts, centralization of police
communications, information, and recordkeeping facilities, and administration
of national standards regarding training, uniforms, pay, rank, and promotion.
Rural and municipal forces were abolished and integrated into prefectural
forces which were allotted responsibility for basic police matters. Officials
and inspectors in various ministries and agencies continued to exercise
special police functions assigned to them in the 1947 Police Law.
National
In 1981 the National Public Safety Commission had the specific purpose of
guaranteeing the neutrality of the police by insulating it from political
pressure and ensuring the maintenance of democratic methods of administration
within the police. The commission's primary function was the supervision of
the National Police Agency (see fig. 18), and it had the authority to appoint
or dismiss senior police officers. The commission consisted of a chairman-who
held 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 operated
independently of the cabinet, but liaison and coordination with the cabinet
were facilitated by the chairman's being a member of that body.
As the central coordinating body for the entire police system, the
National Police Agency determined overall standards and policies, although
detailed direction of operations was left to the lower echelons. In times of
national emergency or large-scale disaster it was authorized to take command
of prefectural police forces. The agency's authorized strength in 1978 was
about 8,067, of which 2,385 were police officers and 5,682 were civilian
officials. The agency was headed by a commissioner general who was appointed
by the National Public Safety Commission with the approval of the prime
minister.
In 1981 the agency's central office included a Secretariat with sections
for finance, administrative measures and legislation, and procurement and
distribution of police equipment. The Police Administration Bureau was
concerned with police personnel, education, welfare, training, and unit
inspections. The Criminal Investigation Bureau was in charge of research
statistics and the investigation of nationally important and international
cases. The bureau's Safety Department was responsible for crime prevention,
juvenile delinquency, and pollution control. In addition the division
surveyed, formulated, and recommended legislation pertaining to firearms,
explosives, food, drugs, and narcotics. The Communications Bureau supervised
police communications systems.
The Traffic Bureau was responsible for licensing drivers, enforcing
traffic safety laws, and controlling and regulating traffic. Intensive traffic
safety and driver education campaigns were run at both the national and
prefectural level. In 1976 a Superhighway Supervising Division was established
to deal with the special conditions on the nation's growing system of express
highways.
The Security Bureau formulated security control policies for the nation
and supervised their execution. It conducted research regarding equipment and
tactics to be utilized in suppressing riots and oversaw and coordinated
activities of the riot police. The Security Bureau also was responsible for
security intelligence on foreigners in Japan, radical political groups,
violations of the Aliens Registration Law, and administration of the Entry and
Exit Control Law. It was also concerned with the implementation of security
policies during national emergencies, including such disasters as fires,