Metski are lower officers of the Owo metski department, and seem to act as judges in civil cases. There are fourteen Metski. Tskybang are messengers, attendants in war or during fires to the Shiogoon. Taka jo.--Keepers of the Shiogoon’s hawks. Katchi ngashira.--The officer who superintends the men lining the streets when the Shiogoon goes out--a ceremony, however, which has been done away with. Jiu ri si ho--meaning “ten miles in four directions.”--Men whose duty it is to take care that no one shoots within ten ri--_i.e._, twenty-five miles--of the castle. Even within this distance there are places in which native sportsmen are allowed to shoot, for which permission is given upon application. An infraction of this law was the reason given for the seizure of an Englishman in 1859--one of the _causes célèbres_ in the early history of Great Britain’s relations with Japan. This is a sub-branch of the Owo metski office. Shiu mong aratame is the branch of the same office which examines into the religion of individuals, especially with the object of restraining the spread of Christianity. Do chiu boonio is the officer who has charge of the highroads, bridges, etc., under the Owo metski. To zoku (Tau tsih--catch thief) Hi tske is the same as Kai yaku--_i.e._, reforming officers. This is, in its subordinate offices, a very wide department--aiming at thorough espionage, secrecy in detection, and surveillance, as well as overpowering strength in carrying out the wishes of government. The whole of society in Japan is permeated by officers of this department. All public places are full of them. Inns are kept by them; they reside as priests in temples, or wherever the general public resorts. The keepers of these inns and farmers in the country are frequently in the employ of the police. There is a saying in Japan, “Dorobo oi zen”--implying that it is better to put money on a thief’s back than to apply to the police. The police runners have means at the stations for constantly strengthening themselves by gymnastic exercises, and are taught to tie up criminals in a variety of ways, from so lightly as to lie like a net, to so tightly that before long the victim is strangled. They are always provided with a short iron baton, with which, in case of resistance, they strike their man over the head to stun him.