The Black And Yellow Uniforms Were Most Truly Welcome, And
Since Then I Have Escaped All Annoyance.
On my return I found the
card of the chief of police, who had left a message with the house-
master apologising for the crowd by saying that foreigners very
rarely visited Kubota, and he thought that the people had never
seen a foreign woman.
I went afterwards to the central police station to inquire about an
inland route to Aomori, and received much courtesy, but no
information. The police everywhere are very gentle to the people,-
-a few quiet words or a wave of the hand are sufficient, when they
do not resist them. They belong to the samurai class, and,
doubtless, their naturally superior position weighs with the
heimin. Their faces and a certain hauteur of manner show the
indelible class distinction. The entire police force of Japan
numbers 23,300 educated men in the prime of life, and if 30 per
cent of them do wear spectacles, it does not detract from their
usefulness. 5600 of them are stationed at Yedo, as from thence
they can be easily sent wherever they are wanted, 1004 at Kiyoto,
and 815 at Osaka, and the remaining 10,000 are spread over the
country. The police force costs something over 400,000 pounds
annually, and certainly is very efficient in preserving good order.
The pay of ordinary constables ranges from 6 to 10 yen a month. An
enormous quantity of superfluous writing is done by all officialdom
in Japan, and one usually sees policemen writing.
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