The Ishiki chûi jôrei of 1871 in the typical way that these regulations were displayed in public. Each one prohibits some sort of undesirable behavior.

Most Japanese at this time were only marginally literate, hence the heavy reliance on graphic images to convey the gist of each regulation. You can probably figure some of them out simply by thinking about the image.

It is important to note that these regulations applied only to the treaty ports and cities where foreigners resided. Clearly the Meiji state would not have cared much about regulating daily life to this degree were it not for the critical gaze of western eyes.


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