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American gun owner opens our eyes to a different way of life in Tokyo

Oona McGee Oct 30, 2024
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“Bad guys have guns, so good girls have to have guns too.”

Our reporter Ikuna Kamezawa has travelled to many countries around the globe and made many new friends along the way. One such friend is a kind-hearted American girl who let Ikuna stay at her home in the U.S. about 20 years ago, and when she recently made the trip to visit Ikuna in Tokyo, they met up in Asakusa for a spot of sightseeing and a night of drinking.

As the night wore on, and after they’d downed a few drinks, the conversation became loose and Ikuna found herself asking her friend: “Hey, do you own a gun?”

“Yes, I own six guns!” was the reply, and it took Ikuna totally by surprise. Even when she plays Resident Evil, she’s never carried six guns, so with her curiosity piqued, she gently pressed her friend on the point, and although it’s a sensitive topic that commonly spurs debate around the world, she thought to share what she learned on that night in a frank, non-biased way.

▼ Cheers to learning about different ways of living around the world.

Ikuna’s friend lives in one of the most rural areas of America, where they can’t survive without a car and they get all the supplies they need from the only Walmart in town. Her friend is single and lives alone, and one of the six guns she owns is a shotgun.

Friend: “Anyone can buy a pocket-sized gun in the state where I live, as long as you meet the age restrictions. However, you need a permit to buy a shotgun. You also need to take a simple course.”

Ikuna: “Why a shotgun?”

Friend: “Bears and deer roam around my house, and raccoons often come in — they’re ferocious and have sharp claws. If you’re in a situation where an animal is going to attack you, it’s best to have a shotgun.”

▼ Unwanted visitors at the house include racoons like this, and wild bears that have been known to approach the front door.

Friend: “I’ve named my shotgun. It’s called Olivia Benson.”

Ikuna: “How much was Olivia Benson?”

Friend: “I think it was US$300 (about 45,000 yen). I think you can buy a regular gun for about $200 (about 30,000 yen).”

Ikuna: “Why do you need to have six guns?”

Friend: “I have one in my car, living room, office, and two in my bedroom…I feel like I have one in each room.”

Ikuna’s friend went on to describe the area where she lives, which Ikuna drew out for us below. Her friend lives in a house at the foot of a mountain (where the arrow points to below). There are three private homes within walking distance, and on the right there’s a vast expanse of nothing while on the left, on the other side of the mountain, is an unsafe neighbourhood, where an unidentified corpse was found a few years ago.

Given these circumstances, it seems that it wouldn’t be considered unusual for a single woman living in this area to own six guns. What’s more, she seems to be worried about the possibility of stalkers.

Friend: “I don’t know what it’s like in Japan, but the American police don’t act unless an incident occurs. So, you have to protect yourself just in case.”

To be clear, Ikuna’s friend isn’t a gun fanatic, and she thinks that people would be better off in a society without guns. She also understands that foreigners can be afraid of guns, so she left her guns with her father when Ikuna visited, which Ikuna really appreciated.

▼Another round of drinks, another revelation.

Ikuna’s friend ended the conversation by saying:

“Bad guys in America always have guns. That’s why good girls have to have guns too. It might be hard for Japanese people to understand, but…you shouldn’t think America is a scary country.”

When she heard the sentence, “Bad guys have guns, so good girls have to have guns too”, Ikuna felt slightly less fearful of the U.S., and although her friend owns six guns, it seems she’s never actually fired any of them. If you think about it, all Japanese people have kitchen knives, and though they could use them to kill or injure people, very few people do.

Her friend also mentioned an aspect of gun ownership that had never occurred to Ikuna, when she said: “Once you buy one gun, your senses become numb to it, so you tend to buy more than one.” That was a feeling Ikuna never wanted to experience.

Of course, it would be naive to think that gun ownership is a clear-cut issue, but after that night in Asakusa, Ikuna felt like she understood that just because a person owns a gun, it doesn’t mean they’re going to use it. It goes to show that when you speak to people in person, rather than simply following media reports and the status quo, your eyes really can be opened to a whole new way of living, and even if it doesn’t vibe with your way of thinking, it doesn’t mean you can’t be friends.

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[ Read in Japanese ]