All organizations were the same, the police included. You climbed to the top by gaining control over the money, then the people.
-- Narrator/ Mikami (chapter 13)

Importance: Though this quote occurs early in the novel before Mikami really gains a full understanding of the inner workings of a bureaucracy such as the Japanese police force, Mikami has begun to understand the hierarchies that exist within institutions. This quote suggests that to be the leader of such an institution, you have to take control over the resources. The aspiring leader practices containment and consumption. Control is essential for hierarchical gain, and control over the people is the most powerful asset.

Over time, the uniform would become his skin - then, his way of thinking fixed, he would never be able to take it off again
-- Narrator/ Mikami (chapter 13)

Importance: Here Yokoyama manipulates language to create an allusion of outward metamorphosis to reflect internal submission. If one's uniform is their skin...