“Thirty-five years of Japanese life through the eyes of two police detectives: and Japanese life is tight knit. What will strike a Western audience is the lack of distinction between the professional and personal - both letters of recommendation for promotion and marriage offers come from the same source. The senior's patronage and the occasional favor at the right time are repaid by a junior's loyalty and sense of personal as well as professional obligation. Understanding wives make silk tying-ropes (a kind of hand-cuff) for their neglectful husbands, and a new groom conquers first night jitters by convincing himself that a policeman is not afraid of anything.”