At the Metropolitan Police Board. This afternoon we visited the offices of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Board as part of our practical curriculum at school. The police officers are lodged in a big and imposing building, very near the Imperial Palace.
At the “reference room” (Sankōkan) we saw very interesting things, including a relief map of the Tokyo metropolis indicating the location of police stations, foreign embassies and other important places. Also recorded on this huge map are informative statistics, such as Tokyo population—7,596,717; police stations—91; policemen—16,318; etc. We also saw on display uniforms, equipment and other paraphernalia used by the police in olden times. The police bodyguards, who were killed in line of duty while protecting Prime Minister Hara and other cabinet ministers when the latter were assassinated about 9 years ago, also have their pictures and relics of their blood-stained uniforms on display. We also saw the katana (sword) used in the killing of Prime Minister Hara.
At the Radio and Telephone Room (Shinreishitsu) the system of receiving reports through the radio and telephone was demonstrated to us. We saw how reports are received from any part of the country and soon acted upon.
At the Identification Section (Kanshikika) we saw the fingerprint (shimon) experts at work and were shown the intricate but efficient system of filing fingerprint identification cards kept in long rows of steel cabinets. In another room we were shown the use of ultra-violet rays (shigaisen) and infrared rays (sekigaisen) to differentiate counterfeit from real money and to tell real jewels from imitation ones and the like. An interesting part in this Identification Section is the Identification Room where suspects are brought to be identified by witnesses through a special type of “magic” mirror through which the witnesses can see the suspect, but the latter cannot see the former.
At the Fire Department (which in Tokyo is part of the Metropolitan Police Board) we visited the radio and telephone room, and the system of receiving reports and acting on them was explained to us.
The last part of this visit to the Police Board was the judo and kendo gymnasium where we saw policemen actually training in these arts. This has been a fruitful afternoon.
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I am sending to the P.I. this first half of my Diary through Teresita Vargas who is leaving for Manila by plane soon. Hope it gets there safely.