I have no idea where to ask this, so I'm gonna ask it here.

[camwyn]

Those of y'all who know more about Japanese culture and society than I do, I have a colour question for you. If the Japanese government were looking to design a uniform for a national police force and wanted it to look both authoritative ('we report to the central government, not any lesser authority') and reassuring ('no, seriously, we're here to help'), what colour would they be most likely to use?

Comments

[hangingfire.livejournal.com]

One thing I noticed in Japan is that there seems to be a real "Police are your friends and they're here to help" publicity campaign going on. Posters outside the koban with peculiar, grinning cartoon critters on them, pictures of friendly cartoon police with cute kids, etc. As I can't read Japanese, I don't know the details, but the general message seemed pretty clear, even to me.

Cops on the street don't carry guns there, although when they're guiding traffic, they do use these super-cool light-up red nightstick/baton things. Which, not incidentally, you can buy for your very own in Akihabara. I sort of wish we had, as it would be highly entertaining at parties.

I was also told that unless you're in a really dire emergency, it's not a good idea for gaijin to ask for help at a koban. The police might take the opportunity to harass you, or even use you as a scapegoat for something. However, I think that's not so much a peculiarity of Japanese police as it may be an aspect of a phenomenon observable everywhere: while many are good and upstanding sorts, there are also the ones who get into the line of work because they like being in a position of power, and nothing brightens their day more than a helpless someone to pick on.

[redplasticglass.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think they've been doing something similar with the school system as well.

Japanese cops were allowed to be physical with the people they arrested up until fairly recently. (within a 1-2 generations, I think) I was told this during a conversation with a friend, however, so I'm not very clear on exact details. But ever since they overhauled the system, they've been aggressively going for the "we're you friend" thing.

I think in Japan it's against the law to incite fear/use fear as a topic for elections? Do you think this might possibly be related? Er.. :P I think I just exhausted my knowledge about the police.

Propaganda-wise, many of their current day methods remind me of poster ads during the 60s and 70s I saw in old films and the like. I mean, with the kids and the cartoon character and smiling face. Then again, I think it's practically believed that a company/business will fail without a mascot. Mascot = approachability. So it makes sense for the koban to be slathered with cute images.

[lekythen.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I asked for help at a koban once. I'd lost my glasses at a big shinto festival, and just wanted to leave an address just in case they were found. (They weren't) The officers got ready for a laugh at the hapless gaijin, broadly grinning and making with the "English? What's that?"... but had to pay attention when I spoke Japanese. Nonetheless, when a month later I got jumped by a chikan, I decided not to report it. I didn't have a problem explaing that a pervert had pooped out of some bushes and grabbed my boobs. I just couldn't think of a way to explain in Japanese that I'd automaticaly jammed my ice cream cone into the guy's groin.