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Woodblock Print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi of Japan's famous soldiers (日本武名伝図), published by Fukuda Kumajiro in May 1878. Left panel: Arisugawa Taruhito (center top), Kabayama Sukenori (upper left), Tani Tateki (upper right), Kawamura Sumiyoshi (lower left), Nozu Shizuo (lower right) Center panel: Saigo Takamori (seated center), Kawaji Toshiyoshi (upper left), Torio Koyata (upper right), Yamagata Aritomo (lower left), Miyoshi Shigeomi (lower right) Right panel: Higashifushimi Yoshiaki (center), Kazukatsu Fukuhara (upper left), Yamakawa Hiroshi (upper right), Saigō Tsugumichi (lower left), Kuroda Kiyotaka (lower right) |
A nation is like a person though it does not have a tangible body. Lawless and vicious individuals are like illnesses that attack the body. Police powers can be likened to daily treatments to keep the body healthy. A judge is a doctor, while law is medicine. In cases where the police cannot prevent a crime despite its efforts to that effect, it catches the criminal and hands him over to a judge. This is like entrusting an ill person with a doctor. A trial is a process to cure an ill person by administering appropriate medicine. As petty offenses are minor illnesses, police officers themselves treat them. This is like a home remedy.
- Hands and Eyes of the Police, Philosophy of Kawaji Toshiyoshi, Founder of the Police in Modern Japan
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| Kawaji Toshiyoshi in uniform. |
Kawaji Toshiyoshi(川路利良, 17 June 1834 – 13 October 1879), also known as Kawaji Toshikane, was a Japanese statesman and chief of police during the Meiji period. A Satsuma Domain samurai initially tasked to study foreign systems for application in the Japanese military, Kawaji fought against forces loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War. Later, his work on setting up the Japanese police at the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration, first as rasotsu, and then as keisatsu, earned him the recognition as the founder of Japan's modern police system (日本警察の父, lit. Father of Japanese Police). Besides his police and military work, he was also noted for his contributions to the development of Kendo, a Japanese martial art.
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