Kyoto Cop at Yoiyama Festival

京都のお巡りさん

A cop works the beat in Kyoto on July 16th.

That is the night before Gion Festival, and Japan's largest block party.

The event is known as Yoiyama, and on that night the hordes turn out in their summer yukata to drink beer, enjoy some squid on a stick, and check out the parade floats - "hoko" - that will be pulled around the following day.

It is a hot and wonderful time, though not for the men in blue.

Though there are rarely fights, crowd control is hard work.

The streets of downtown are closed to cars from 6 pm until 11 pm. And at times foot traffic can be dangerously heavy.

If you avoid Shijo Dori, though, from around 7 until 10 pm it is bearable.

Access

From Kyoto Station, take the Karasuma Subway Line two stops north to Shijo Karasuma Station (which is also on the Hankyu Line for Osaka).

Maps are available in the station or at any exit.

Alternatively, for a more gradual introduction to the vast crowd, exit at Oike Subway Station, one stop north of Karasuma Station and follow the crowds south.


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Police security in Tokyo

青山通り　警備

The office is in Tokyo’s Kojimachi district, not far from the political heart of Japan, Nagatacho. It is normal to see members of the police stationed on the streets around Nagatacho just watching for any suspicious traffic or pedestrians.

The right wing propaganda trucks, or gaisensha, that blare their music and message onto the hapless world are especially drawn to Nagatacho, and they are no doubt the main object of police vigilance. Perhaps the assassination of the chairman of Japan Socialist Party, Inejiro Asanuma, in 1960 by a right-wing 17-year-old is still very much alive in the political establishment’s memory.

The security, however, becomes positively intrusive whenever foreign VIPs are visiting, particularly those from China or the US. At times like those, it is usual for the streets to be semi-cordoned, with the police manning a mobile steel fence that can be pulled fully across the street to block it to traffic at a moment’s notice.

Tokyo’s Aoyama-dori street, also known as Route 246, starts in Shibuya and runs right through Nagatacho, up to the western edge of the Imperial Palace. Therefore, it is particularly prone to security-related traffic interruptions.

I was crossing a pedestrian bridge over Aoyama-dori the other day and noticed that the police had completely blocked off the lane of Aoyama-dori that flies over Sotobori-dori street. There was no sign of an accident, so I can only assume that it was the ultimate in security measures being taken that day.


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The Soft Sounds of the Tokyo Police

Listen to a Tokyo Police announcement

Listen to sounds of the soft side of Japanese authority: "Please observe traffic rules and manners and kindly cooperate in preventing accidents."

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Journalists outside Roppongi police station

麻布警察　写真家

I was in Roppongi last Friday on my way to Rhythm Rivalry, a very memorable percussion event that was happening at the performance/club space Superdeluxe. (Tokyo events on now)

Passing the Azabu Police Station near Roppongi Hills I noticed a group of photographers - clearly press photographers - waiting in front of it (sitting on left of sidewalk in above photo). The policeman on duty (standing at right with stick) was unfazed by it, and the photographers were in no hurry but looked like they were there for the long haul.

First I thought it may be something to do with the assault on the famous kabuki actor, Ebizo Ichikawa, that had happened about a week before in the same area on November 25; but I saw the same thing this week too: a group of photographers waiting outside Kojimachi Police Station - placing that in some doubt. (More about Kojimachi)

I can only presume that either someone newsworthy was in there and they were waiting for him or her to come out, or that they were hanging around in the hope that that would happen.

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