Herne Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi all I'm living in Japan at the moment, though I'm a South African. Will be moving back home next month and looking forward to getting back to my firearms. Hope I can remember which end to hold. Have shot on-and-off for the last 20 years, started on my high-school musketry team, have got more into centerfire in the last 5 years or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michmalo Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSwift Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Congrats on going home soon. Out of curiosity, what kind of faux shooting-esque things are there to do in Japan? Are airsoft pistols as good as it gets legally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herne Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) There is an IPSC action air club in Tokyo. But there is also a clay target association and some target rifle and hunting. Getting a shotgun is reasonably straightforward if you're willing to pay the money (lots of) and wait the permitting process out. Getting a rifle is harder and getting a pistol is super-tough, I think there are about 30 pistol permit holders in the country, all but one of who are on the Army ISSF pistol team. That's it for modern arms, though there are a few historical matchlock enthusiasts who do displays. Edited June 8, 2015 by Herne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liber Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I've been told it's not actually that hard to get a rifle in Japan. My cousin lives in Kagoshima and killed a wild boar for New Years about 20 years ago...not sure what type of firearm he used, but it was a rifle. I have a set of Nikon binoculars that once belonged to my wife's Grandfather to spot birds in Kagoshima also...so I think several of the family are hunters. I did live in Japan for about 5 years once upon a time...and had a friend in Tokyo that had an old Japanese revolver of some type that he said belonged to his Father. Evidently that was legal to own also. For the most part people don't have firearms in Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herne Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Yeah, the laws for antiques to allow them, but you have to take them to the police station every-so often for inspection and there are home inspections regularly as well (for all firearms). As far as I know, currently the issue with rifles is that ou have to have had a shotgun permit for a number of years before applying for the rifle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited June 8, 2015 by Herne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liber Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Yeah, the laws for antiques to allow them, but you have to take them to the police station every-so often for inspection and there are home inspections regularly as well (for all firearms). As far as I know, currently the issue with rifles is that ou have to have had a shotgun permit for a number of years before applying for the rifle. Some of my wife's friends have told me that you can apply and it's just a matter of time, even if you've never had a permit. But I vaguely remember them saying you may need to take some type of test/questioner. My son was just asking about wild boar as he also had some in Kagoshima when I wasn't there and he's going back next month to visit...he didn't know our cousin shot the wild boar...he has a long rifle, not a shotgun, but I think the family has had it for years going back even before the war. Welcome to the boards here. I just got myself a Dillon press through Brian Enos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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