Subject: 岡っ引き okappiki, doshin policeman
Culture: Japanese
Setting: Tokugawa shogunate, Japan 17-19thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Strusiewicz 2025-04-19 online
"By the 18th century, Edo’s population exceeded 1 million, making it the largest city in the world. About half of the residents were samurai, who could technically be investigated by peacekeepers but were ultimately only answerable to their feudal lord.
"Except for extreme cases, they were effectively above the law due to their privileged status because while dates and names may change, the world largely remains the same. Still, that left about 500,000 commoners under the jurisdiction of two machi-bugyo (magistrates) and their police squads.
"Each bugyo commanded 25 middle-ranked samurai known as yoriki. They wore armor under their attire and carried two swords with hakama pants to remind everyone they were samurai. They also traveled on horseback to show everyone they were important samurai, so if they were called to a crime scene, it had better have been for something big, like a murder.
"Below yoriki you had samurai constables called doshin who actually did most of the real law enforcement in Edo by walking the streets with a sword. They didn’t wear hakama, though, because they were very low-ranked samurai.
"There were somewhere between 240 and 280 of them in total. It’s not exactly a lot to handle half a million people. Yet samurai weren’t the only ones exempt from the regular rule of the law. The caste of Japanese untouchables, for example, were only accountable to their underworld king, while shrines and temples claimed that the only person above them was the emperor.
The doshin also employed civilian assistants (komono) and former criminals acting as confidential informants (okappiki). Many communities additionally hired their own security, i.e. the biggest guy with the biggest stick who was willing to work for the least amount of money. They were known as meakashi."
"Throughout this period, the relative peace would lead to a flourishing of many schools of bujutsu, the teaching of types of weapons and techniques that up until this time were transmitted to the elite in the greatest of secrecy during the Sengoku period (1480-1570), and would now shift from the shadows into the light and would finally end up being used by the law enforcement that came into fruition under the new Tokugawa government during the Edo period.
"The warriors or bushi, would have to very quickly adapt themselves to this new era where all combat, duels, and quests of vengeance would be prohibited and condemned systematically by the government. Similarly, the warriors who would take up posts in law enforcement in the city of Edo, capital of the new government, could no longer be able use radical techniques that aimed at killing one’s adversary, but rather techniques that would disarm and control without taking life."
* Ratti/Westbrook 1973 p
"
* Daniel 1986 p59
"[D]uring the Tokugawa period, some ninja found employment as policemen. Because of the need to take prisoners alive, they favored the jutte. Under normal circumstances, a skilled swordsman could hold off several men armed with just a jutte. However, by moving in pairs or in three and throwing rocks, blinding powders, and cords, the ninja could subdue their target. It should be added here that the city-dwelling samurai of the Tokugawa era were for the most part mediocre martial artists. The level of skill required to disarm a skilled swordsman with such a short weapon is obtainable by only a few. So even in groups, the Tokugawa police had to be extremely careful if confronted by one of the rural swordsmen of that period."
Costume
*
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Man-Catcher
* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery
"Part weapon, part device for catching escaping prisoners, the tsukubō or 'push pole' was designed to force a fugitive to the ground or against a wall, while its barbs became entangled with a fugitive's clothing. Groups of similar implements were racked outside watch houses, as a deterrent to potential criminals." ....
* Bottomley/Hopson1988 p
"
Staff
* Cunningham 2008 p159
"An even shorter wooden staff called the hanbō (walking stick) was also developed as a defensive and arresting weapon among law enforcement officials during the late nineteenth century. The hanbō was typically three shaku, or nearly three feet long. Because of the short length, the hanbō was also quite useful as a walking stick.
"Both the jō and the hanbō were frequently employed as weapons for both personal defense by low-ranking samurai and chōnin throughout the Edo period."
"The hanbo at ~3 ft is a close-range weapon. The hanbo is short enough to use one-handed (although most hanbo work is two-handed), short enough to function in confined spaces, and short enough to integrate with empty-hand grappling. The body mechanics are compact: short strikes, joint locks against the staff, the staff used as a lever or fulcrum for off-balancing and throwing. The hanbo is the weapon of immediate close range — the distance at which empty-hand grappling and weapon work overlap."
* Ratti/Westbrook 1973 p312-315
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Baton
* Must-see in Kyoto 2001 p145
"The jitté, used to trap sword blades in a fight, also served as the okappiki's badge of office."
* Fryer 1969 p90
"Jitte A short club or baton in the form of a rod with side hook at the base of the handle. They were used as a parrying weapon and sometimes carried by police."
* Ratti/Westbrook 1973 p312-315
"[A]n interesting weapon of combat known, in the doctrine of bujutsu, as jitte, jittei, or jutta ... usually consists of an iron or steel rod, a long hilt, and a characteristically square hook jutting out from the rod at the point where it meets the hilt. this instrument appears in many variations, from the simplest to the most elaborate. It was often implemented with a guard (tsuba) and a scabbard; in certain rare cases it was even mounted as a sword, with a blade. Some martial arts authors report that it was carried hanging the belt or in a scabbard inserted in the waistband or sash (obi), while others hold that it was usually carried hanging from the wearer's wrist by a cord tied to a ring on the weapon's hilt. In any case, there seems to be a general agreement that it was a parrying weapon and was used by Japanese police officers in feudal times.
"[...] Whatever its origins, this weapon gave rise to a sophisticated method of combat which became known in Japan as jittejutsu. Its techniques ranged from skillful parries against a sword attack to extremely effective blows directed against any exposed part of an opponent's body. The point of the jitte was used directly in thrusts to the eyes and throat, or the opponent's lower abdomen -- parts of the body which became extremely vulnerable once a warrior's blade had been captured or diverted. The hilt of the jitte could also be used with devastating effect in delivering reverse blows that could maim or even kill an unwary opponent. Upon occasion, the jitte was also thrown.
"Mastery of jittejutsu naturally depended upon consummate skill in that art of displacement (tai-sabaki) which made it possible for an expert to move with blinding speed from one position to another, sliding or whirling closer to or further away from an opponent, whose reach normally extended to the tip of his long sword. Evasion prepared the way for the parry, and the parry prepared the way for the counterattack which often concluded the encounter. Since the techniques of kenjutsu were virtually infinite, the techniques of jittejutsu, of necessity, had to be equally numerous and sufficiently conclusive to eliminate the possibility of the opponent's being able to counterparry and attack again. This skill was invaluable to a police officer who was often 'required to make arrests without injuring his prisoner, particularly if of much higher rank.' The official use of the jitte was restricted to the police officers of the feudal era, who also used it as a symbol of their position. They became extremely skillful in its use, and the warriors were said to have dutifully acknowledged the efficiency of this instrument, which, in the hands of an expert, could snap a precious katana in two or send it whirling against his throat. Other categories of Japanese subjects, however, managed to enjoy the advantages of jittejutsu in less obvious ways, by adding a hook to the iron ribs of their fans or to the stems of their pipes." [references omitted]
* Strusiewicz 2025-04-19 online
"Doshin usually carried a jitte truncheon that eventually evolved into the Edo equivalent of a police badge. There are many myths about the jitte, like how the additional, smaller prong near the hilt was used for catching swinging swords. The prong was primarily used for striking, hooking and restraining techniques."
"The jutte was ... a weapon that was kept secret as its teaching, from the beginning of the sengoku period, gave one the ability to reverse a situation at any moment. The essence of the jutte is based upon the Heiho Niten ichi ryu (兵法二天一流) of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1685) who learnt the secrets of its use from his adoptive father Miyamoto Munisai (16th century), master of the renowned Tori ryu kenjutsu (當理流剣術). This school would later perpetuate itself under the name Jutte tori ryu (實手當理流) and its transmission is found within the Enmei ryu (圓明流) which is known under the name Enmei jutte ryu (圓明實手流) or as the tetsujin jutte-ryu (鉄人實手流).
"However, the jutte from this school is completely different; in fact it was exclusively created for use in situations where the combat could become suddenly disadvantageous. If we take a look at photo 6 it becomes clear that the jutte transmitted by the enmei ryu was a multi-purpose weapon. Photo 7 shows different orientations of the jutte in its most basic form. The e-densho (photo 8) illustrates the dimensions and materials needed to create this weapon.
"Similarly, the term as well as the Sino-Japanese character that describes the jutte differs according to the period and the school. In fact, even though it is read jutte (十手), a reading that comes from the language spoken in the city of Edo, we also see the readings jitte, jutte, jittei, and juttei. As well, the reading of the first character (實) was one of makoto, minoru, jitsu which means; to stand its ground, truth, real, etc. Therefore it consists of a simple weapon with an unassuming appearance, but that will, in the hands of an expert in the movement of the body, “stand its ground” immediately in all “real” situations."
