Police forces in Edo during the feudal period of Japan

After Ieyasu unifies Japan, the Togawa shogunate was established and the capital was moved to Edo in modern Tokyo in the early 17th century, he ended hundreds of years of civil war and ignorant killings. Strangely, though, people are still constantly murdering each other. Plus, all other crimes were committed throughout the city.

Therefore, the government authorized a group of agents to blindly and torture, making everyone aware that Japan is now in peace. They were Japanese feudal policemen. This is their story.

Studio photo of a magistrate/government worker who visited Paris in 1862, wearing swords and hakama | Wikimedia

Fact: Maintain the world’s largest city

By the 18th century, Edo had a population of more than one million, making it the largest city in the world. About half of the inhabitants were samurai, technically they could be investigated by peacekeepers, but ultimately they could only be held accountable to their feudal lords.

Apart from extreme cases, they actually effectively go beyond the law due to their privileged status, because the world remains largely the same despite the possibility of dates and names. Despite this, there are still about 500,000 civilians left. Marche – Boogie (Magical Justice) and his police squad.

Each Bugyo commands 25 samurais Yolic. They dressed in armor, two swords and hakab trousers to remind everyone that they were warriors. They also travel on horseback and show everyone that they are important Warriors, so if they are summoned to the scene of a crime, it is better to be for murder, such as a murder case.

Below Yoriki you have a samurai police Doshi In fact, who walks through the sword on the street, doing most of the real law enforcement in Edo. However, they didn’t wear Hakama because they rank very low.

There are 240 to 280 of them in total. It is not a lot to deal with 500,000 people. But Samurai is not the only one who is exempt from the rules of the law. For example, Japanese untouchable castes are only responsible for Their gangster kingwhile the shrines and temples claim to be the only person above them It’s the Emperor.

Duoxin also hired civilian assistants (Komono) and former criminals act as confidential informants (Okappiki). Many communities also hire their own safety, i.e. the largest stick, the largest, willing to work with the least amount of money. They are called Mekasi.

Put everything together and you have a law enforcement system for almost everyone. Except for all the blinded and tortured people.

During the Edo period, police fought against criminals (top left corner). Police can see armor, “jitto” and other weapons. By Utagawa Kuniyoshi (c. 1840) | Wikimedia

Eyes and Bathing Spy: Edo’s Police Strategy

Being Yoriki is an amazing show. You’re not pounding on the sidewalk because that’s how hard it is. You are also very paid and people really like you. During the Edo era, the three most popular professions chosen by civilians were sumo wrestling, firefighting and assisting police squads as Yoriki.

At that time, police officers were even allowed to enter the women’s area in the public bathroom. This only happens in the early morning when it is usually empty. The purpose is to eavesdrop on the conversations of the male part and collect Intel. Bathroom owners use password words to clearly warn some of their clients that are vulnerable on a specific day.

By comparison, being Doshin is not great. The salary is low and spending all day on the street is dangerous. Although they did get a sword, they were encouraged to leave it behind because it prefers to keep the criminal alive and thus can be tortured through the proper channels.

Doshin is usually carried Throw Truncheon eventually evolved into Edo, equivalent to police badges. There are many myths about Jitter, such as how to use the extra smaller pins near the hilt to capture the swing sword. Pins are mainly used for strike, hook and limiting technologies.

To give them a chance to more dangerous criminals, some Dushin used MetSubushi (The dazzling one). This is an eye-irritating type, such as sand or ash deployed from a special container or scabbard. It’s kind of like a modern pepper spray. There are also stories where some immoral Doshin add powdery glass to their eavesdroppers. However, this is still not the worst thing the Edo police have done to you.

Toyokuni Ichiyosai (circa 1850) tried Goemon Ishikawa (famous bandit) and his son | Wikimedia

Crush out confession: The cornerstone of Edo justice

Confessions are the cornerstone of the Edo judicial system. Just feel wrong A person is sentenced unless they admit to the crime. Therefore, to ensure that justice has been served, police are allowed and essentially required to torture arrested persons in order to make them admit it.

The mild version involves things like whipping or putting heavy stones on the body to crush the victim. Then there is heavy torture. This tends to involve things like painful binding or hanging painful corpses.

Since punishments for the heavier crimes of Edo include beheading, hanging, crucifixion or boiling alive, some people do not acknowledge what the police have done to them. However, these suspects usually end up being in the death penalty.

Early confessions may reduce your punishment, so the system leads to many innocent people being fined or exiled, which is much better than cooking alive.

Technically, it is possible to be acquitted in court after refusing to plead guilty, but this is extremely rare, as no one is found guilty is considered a failure of the police and magistrates. As a result, sometimes innocent people are injured to protect other innocent people.

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