General

[blackrain]

I'll see you soon Derek. Jan is looking promising for me. We'll have to meet up at this field. Is it speedball only?

Later,
Blackrain

[Ronin]

Blackrain,

The Sagami Depot field is speedball only. So, if you'd like to skip paintball and take me up on that offer to show you Kyoto... (or we could do BOTH.)

There's a chance I'll be in Texas on business for a couple of weeks in Jan. Keep me abreast of your schedule.

[blackrain]

Originally Posted by Ronin

Blackrain,

The Sagami Depot field is speedball only. So, if you'd like to skip paintball and take me up on that offer to show you Kyoto... (or we could do BOTH.)

There's a chance I'll be in Texas on business for a couple of weeks in Jan. Keep me abreast of your schedule.

NP,
I'll be there for a few months.
Later,
Blackrain

[LoopyDood]

Originally Posted by DarkEarth

I hope your main focus out there is to get the 180 fps regulation changed.

How terribly weak. I can see the fun when everybodys using it but geez youre average Western pball player is going to just be dodging those pballs.

Where as your average Japanese player is going to get gogged alot lol.

It's also probably the reason airsoft is so big in Japan, and paintball so comparatively small. I think countries with laws like these are the only market where .50 would make a positive difference, as the maximum FPS is determined by the force of the paintball. Less weight = less force = higher maximum velocity.

[Ronin]

Paintball is still minor in Japan for a whole host of reasons, but the velocity restriction is only a minor part of the problem. The restrictions only went into place a few years ago, and were targeted at BB gun (or Air Soft, as it's known outside Japan) users who had jacked up the power in their guns to the point where they could shoot out windows using ball bearings. The legislation was initiated with a push from the PTA. Paintball as such wasn't even on the lawmakers' radar.

Air Soft buyers generally into two categories: Jr. High School kids, and adults who wished they part of of some kind of paramilitary organization. These are guys who regularly wear BDUs. They are decidedly NOT mainstream, and their image caries over to paintball, which the general public strongly associates with "survival games".

To further complicate the issue, there is this WAR ZONE - Paintball and Survival game field in Inzai City Chiba new field that was opened this year by a former Israeli Special Forces commando. His field uses .50 cal paintball shooting mil-sim type markers, and he evidently focusses on war games and teaching related techniques (room clearing, etc). I'm sure he'll find enough niche market customers to stay open, but I can't see that field getting any positive press that would help the growth of the sport here.

One of main goals of the JPA (Japan Paintball Association) of which in the interest of full disclosure I will mention I am a director, is to gain credibility for paintball as a legitimate, internationally recognized sport. As paintball is played at 300 fps at international tournaments, we would hope that enough interest from "mainstream" Japanese would pressure lawmakers to reconsider the restrictions, and allow full speed play within the boundaries of certified paintball fields (much like how racetracks have no speed limit for drivers). To get enough members to make us credible, we have to appeal to a broad range of people, including women. In this regard, the lower velocity at Japanese fields ironically has been working in our favor.

Anyway, I'm done with my Sunday morning tea, so I'll close for now. I hope this post clarified things a bit.

[LoopyDood]

Thanks a lot, that cleared things up. I have a friend who's doing an exchange program in Japan right now, and while I wouldn't call him a paintballer he enjoys playing once in a while. He's 17 right now. I've shown him this thread; maybe he'll play there some time.

[Ronin]

FYI, here are a few links to off-base (i.e. actually IN Japan) fields. At least one of them has an English version of their site.

Nagano:
PaintBallFiled ’Ì’r

Kyoto:
ƒGƒXƒyƒŠƒI‹ž“s ƒyƒCƒ“ƒgƒ{�[ƒ‹ƒNƒ‰ƒu


Mie:
ƒyƒCƒ“ƒgƒ{�[ƒ‹�yƒXƒvƒ‰ƒbƒVƒ…�zƒgƒbƒvƒy�[ƒW


Hokkaido:
????????????・??????

[Greybeard@IN]

Nice article & thanks for sharing. Hopefully paintball will become popular with the locals!

[blackrain]

Originally Posted by Ronin

FYI, here are a few links to off-base (i.e. actually IN Japan) fields. At least one of them has an English version of their site.

Nagano:
PaintBallFiled ’Ì’r

Kyoto:
ƒGƒXƒyƒŠƒI‹ž“s ƒyƒCƒ“ƒgƒ{�[ƒ‹ƒNƒ‰ƒu


Mie:
ƒyƒCƒ“ƒgƒ{�[ƒ‹�yƒXƒvƒ‰ƒbƒVƒ…�zƒgƒbƒvƒy�[ƒW


Hokkaido:
????????????・??????

What are the distance from Yokosuka?
Later,
Blackrain

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by blackrain

What are the distance from Yokosuka?
Later,
Blackrain

If you've got enough free time to consider going, why not come out and lend me a hand working on MY field?

But to answer your question, they're all pretty far. The Nagano field is closest, but it is not readily accessible by train. The Mie field is the closest by train (the field owner could pick you up) but its a VERY small speedball course, not REALLY worth the 4 hours you'd spend on the train, IMHO.