Kanto Regulatory Patrol

• Established: 1805
• Japanese: 関東取締出役 (Kantou torishimari shutsuyaku)

The Kantô Regulatory Patrol was a shogunal police force charged with the pursuit of gangsters, gamblers, troublesome rônin, and other criminals and undesirable elements within the Kantô region.

They were empowered with the ability to travel across the Kantô ignoring domainal boundaries. Beginning in 1827, they also oversaw "reform leagues" (kaikaku kumiai) formed as groups of local villages in efforts to revitalize and reform countryside society.

References

• David Howell. "The Social Life of Firearms in Tokugawa Japan." Japanese Studies 29:1 (2009), 71.