If you are interested in playing airsoft in Japan, this is how you get started.
Airsoft in Japan
In Japan, airsoft guns are called “Air-gun”, and airsoft games are called “Survival game(or Saba-ge)”.
It is getting popular as many TV personalities perform their airsoft hobby in their show.
Hundreds of thousand people are playing airsoft here, thus you will find out friends or your favourite fields soon.
English support
Sadly, English support in Japanese airsoft community is very poor.
This article is meant to fill such gap of information toward foreign players.
Since there are little English support, install google translate addon to your google chrome.
Access
Thanks to the population density, airsoft fields and stores are dense. In some fields, you don’t even need a car to visit them.
Find a field to play airsoft
- Find a day you can go airsoft.
- Find a field
- Go to the website of the field and see if it is available that day.
Outdoor/Urban based/Forest/Indoor
For example, below is how you could reserve the most famous airsoft field in Japan.
Click on a button with letters “定例会” in it.
“定例会” means “open game” and it is open to literally everybody. Every airsoft field holds open games and they are spelled “定例会”.
In the bottom of the page, you will find a list of open games.
Fill the blank form and you are ready to go.
Rent an airsoft rifle and goggles
To play airsoft, you will need a AEG(Automatic Electric Guns) and a pair of goggles. You could rent them in any field at price of around 1,500JPY~3,000JPY.
Other rental goods: 1 pair of goggles
Otherwise, you could purchase gears of your taste.
I will introduce them next page.
Necessities to play airsoft
You could rent them in the fields. But you can use better ones if you buy one.
If you play more than 3 times, it would be cheaper to buy safety gears.
If you play more than 10 times, it would be cheaper to buy an airsoft gun.
GOGGLES
You MUST wear airsoft-oriented goggles to protect your eyes. Goggles are the very first thing you should own.
These are the other goggles I recommend you for airsoft gameplay.
Airsoft gun
If it is your first rifle, I recommend you to buy a Tokyo Marui AEG.
I’ve tried quite a lot of guns. After all, just like all the other airsoft player finds out, Tokyo Marui AEGs work perfectly.
And it almost never breaks up.
The only downside of Tokyo Marui AEGs is that they are too reliable thus there are little room to customise.
However, Tokyo Marui is not the all I recommend.
There are a lot of other good AEGs. I will translate them near future. Please use google translate or something for now.
Other safety gears
Apart from goggles, there are other parts you have to protect from injury.
meaning: eyes come first, then comes teeth
Although face masks are not regulated in most of the outdoor fields, they are very highly recommended to wear in those fields.
6mm BB rounds are powerful enough to break your teeth.
There are also other protective gears that help you play more comfortable.
Common Rules
There are rules we must obey. The rules not just regulate the gameplay, but also ensure safety and security.
The rules below are common in EVERY airsoft field.
Although there are a lot more minor rules depends on the field, understanding these rules below, you will not suffer major problems.
Manners
- Don’t swear to others
- Don’t ever try to cheat
- Any unpleasant behaviour shall be reported to a staff
So basic, but very important.
Safety
You must follow these gun controls to safely play airsoft.
Prevent accidental fire
Prevention of accidental fire is the most important of gun controls. Except for in-game and in shooting range, guns shall be controlled not to fire accidentally.
- Do not place your finger inside the trigger guard
- Do not insert magazine
- Keep the selector at safety
- Do not point your gun at someone
This procedure must be done every time you are outside of the game and shooting range.
In some strict fields, they ban players who caused accidental fire for multiple times.
Wear goggles
You must wear goggles whenever you entre the field or the shooting range. Remember to wear goggles at your table, and remove it at your table.
When you are holding your gun, you should be with your goggles on.
Gameplay
Airsoft is a game relies on each players’ honesty. Thus cheating is easy, but it is easily detected. And if you are detected cheating for multiple times, you could be banned.
Call out hit
Calling hit is the most important part of airsoft gameplay. In airsoft, every bullet that touches the body and equipment mid air is considered fatal. When you are hit, you must call “hit” and walk away.
That means pretending to not being hit is the most crucial way of cheating. Those cheaters are called “zombie” in Japan.
Dead men tell no tales
Once the player is hit, him/her is considered dead. “Hit” is the last word a player is allowed to speak.
When you are hit, there are a lot of valuable information you want to share the teammates. But speaking dead is cheating.
No more words other than “Hit passing” is allowed in the way back.
Aim down properly
You must avoid blind fire. Blind fire is called “Mekura Uchi” in Japanese. We often see in the news a soldier shooting without aiming down the sight.
Remember to align the sight with the eyeline.
Blind fire is considered cheating in airsoft for 3 reasons.
- You may collide someone with the muzzle by sticking the gun out of the barricade(safety issue)
- You may hit someone you shouldn’t -e.g. a player already hit-(manner issue)
- You will not recognise you are hit on the gun(cheating issue)
Don’t shoot from a small gap
It is another shape of blind fire. It is called “gap fire” “Sukima-Uchi” in Japanese. You are not allowed to shoot sticking the muzzle out of a small gap. “Gap” is usually defined a gap smaller than a fist.
Safety control
Whatever the reason, you are not allowed to remove your goggles inside the field.
When the game is over, remember the accidental fire prevention.
Below is the exiting procedure.
- Withdraw the magazine
- Shoot at the chamber clearing box
- Set the selector in safety
- Do not touch the trigger
Conclusion
There are tons of minor regulations and game rules depending on the field.
However, the rules above are common in EVERY airsoft field. Please remember them first and check each fields’ website for further regulations.
Good luck!
