[Sangetsu]

Japanese police officers may seem meek, and in most circumstances they are. But it's a cultural thing, all Japanese are meek to a certain extent. But all police officers here are trained in Judo and Kendo, so if you get one worked up to the point he grabs that meter long night stick from his bicycle, you are probably going to get hurt.

There is no ACLU in Japan. Outside in public the police may seem overly polite and understanding to criminals, but if you push them too hard when there is nobody watching, don't be surprised if they push back hard enough to make you look like you fell down a flight of stairs.

In most cases foreigners who commit minor infractions are dealt with using kid gloves. Larger infractions will get you deported quickly, and directly. You won't even have time to go to your hotel or apartment and collect your belongings. You will also be prohibited from returning to Japan for anything from 4 to 8 years.

Serious lawbreaking results in serious punishment here. If you are a foreigner, and have a good lawyer, you'll like get away with instant deportation and a lifetime ban from returning. If your lawyer is not so good, or your crime is violent, you'll spend some time in a very small Japanese prison cell before your permanent deportation.

The death penalty is strangely applied here. If you are sentenced to be executed, there is no date set. It can occur at any time without warning, from a few months to a few years. Condemned prisoners have no idea when they are going to be executed until they are led from their cell to the execution room.

As I write, I'm listening to the traffic drive by on Yaesu-dori (street) in Central Tokyo. The nearest police koban has only one prisoner today, a stray dog who was probably caught urinating in a prohibited place (there are "do not let your dog urinate here" signs all over the neighborhood). He'll be detained until his owner comes to the koban to bail him out.