The
Japanese government established a European-style civil police system in 1874, under the centralized control of the Police Bureau within the Home Ministry to put down civil unrest end
maintaining peace and order during the Meiji Restoration. Their increasing involvement in political affairs was one of the foundations of the authoritarian government in Japan in the first half of the
twentieth century.
The system is regulated public health, businesses, factories, shut down construction, the final issued permits end licenses. Contrary to Japanese proposals for a strong, centralized power to deal with postwar unrest, the police system was decentralized.
