# Hello fron Japan



## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Hello all, Just checking in to say hi and to introduce myself a little.

I'm a self employed cutlery dealer from the UK liiving in Japan. I have, after many years of procrastinating, gotten off my bum and found a range. 

I am interested in Instinctive shooting and probably have a gazillion questions for the old salts.

Anyway, glad to be here, 

Cheers! :darkbeer:


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## SwietsRick (Dec 23, 2005)

uerukamu, irasshai, settai, hougei, kangei
or 
Welcome


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## mdewitt71 (Jul 20, 2005)

Welcome to AT. 
I am US Army and will be moving to Okinawa in Jan. 2007
for 3 years.


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi Simon_Ed,

Where abouts are you located? I'm in the Big City. Here I go to small 30m range not far from where I work. We share it with a kyudojo which is cool, except that we can't wear shoes on the shooting line.

What's your range like?

Take care,
Elhaz


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## Tim Roberts (Jul 13, 2002)

:welcome: to AT Simon_Ed. I hope you enjoy the fun here.


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Guys,
Thanks for the warm welcome! :darkbeer: 

Elhaz, I live in Kawaguchi and shoot at a local range (30~50) in Itabashi, located very close to the Arakawa. Its very informal and except for the Ohsaki-ni when you leave its cool  Only costs 310 to shoot (no one cares how long) and 50 to rent gear.

Give me a call if you like or email me if you want to hook up sometime.

048 254 3799

Cheers!:cocktail:


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Sounds like a nice place. Yeah, archery's really pretty inexpensive here. I mean compared to what it costs for a round of golf. Wow! Now buying your own bow here... that's a different story.  

Once a month my ward has a small tournament which is loads of fun. And the end of the year party, with its bare-bow balloon break, is a riot. (It was a real laugh to watch one of our high-tech compound folks, who is used to hitting nickels at 50 meters, get shut out by fat balloons at 15m!)

Nice to know there are a few other gaikokujin in the sport here.

Take care,
Elhaz


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## zamochit (Apr 3, 2006)

Hi there everyone, greetings.Guys I am from Shibuya in Tokyo and I do target archery at the Shibuya Sports Center.They even give you all the equipments with the JPY200 fee for 2 hours of good fun.Unbfortunately the equipments are a bit outdated.I wanted to take some Compound Archery and wanted to get my own gear but over here just 2 guys shoots with it and most of the stuff are for Recurve only and the price whihc quoted me for compound was a horror.Maybe we all can try to meet somewhere and talk about archery


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Sounds like a good idea if you guys are up for it.

What kind of compound are you looking for? I have an older wheel bow from PSE and about 12 arrows for it. If you are interested let me know. Its got a really long AtoA so would suit a finger shooter. The arrows were only shot once about 3 years ago. They have been in a case ever since :embara:


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## Tim Roberts (Jul 13, 2002)

zamochit said:


> Hi there everyone, greetings.Guys I am from Shibuya in Tokyo and I do target archery at the Shibuya Sports Center.They even give you all the equipments with the JPY200 fee for 2 hours of good fun.Unbfortunately the equipments are a bit outdated.I wanted to take some Compound Archery and wanted to get my own gear but over here just 2 guys shoots with it and most of the stuff are for Recurve only and the price whihc quoted me for compound was a horror.Maybe we all can try to meet somewhere and talk about archery


:welcome: to AT as well zamochit. Enjoy the fun here.


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## Jorge Oliveira (Aug 13, 2004)

Ohio gosaimas, Simon San

From the other side of the world...


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi Zamochit,

In Toshima (at the Sogokaikukan and at the Nishi Sugamo range) there are loads of folks shooting compound. There's even a division for it in our regular monthly tournaments. Unfortunately, I don't think you can rent the gear.

Where have you been looking for your bow?... maybe Shibuya Archery? Have you tried Asahi Archery? They give a 20% discount off the sticker price (which still leaves it pretty expensive) but might be worth checking out. Actually, I think they also give a discount on "last year's colours"... well, at least for target recurves. I don't know if this is comparable to Shibuya or not but might be worth looking into.

Would be cool to get together sometime.

Elhaz


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Thanks again for such a warm welcome.

mdewitt71, if you like fishing I think you will be in Hog heaven. Guam being about 2 hrs away and all that Marlin to be had.:tongue:


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## mdewitt71 (Jul 20, 2005)

Simon_Ed said:


> Thanks again for such a warm welcome.
> 
> mdewitt71, if you like fishing I think you will be in Hog heaven. Guam being about 2 hrs away and all that Marlin to be had.:tongue:


Yea, I love fishing....already been checking it out...plus was told there use to be a really nice Archery club on Kadena AFB too.


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## zamochit (Apr 3, 2006)

Elhaz said:


> Hi Zamochit,
> 
> In Toshima (at the Sogokaikukan and at the Nishi Sugamo range) there are loads of folks shooting compound. There's even a division for it in our regular monthly tournaments. Unfortunately, I don't think you can rent the gear.
> 
> ...


Hi Tim and Simon,thanks for the replies!And yes Elhaz I had my fair share in looking for a a cheap gear in Japan.Even if I did get a gear from outside Japan, the stores will not co-operate in giving me any service so thats something I have to think also.And I would love to meet you guys over someday to talk about Archery.I was doing recurve at first but I used thier most powerful recurve and decided I wanted to try out compund and found it to be more fun for me than recurve.
I been aproached by Shibuya Archery, he gave me a Hoyt Catalogue and the price list.I was very suprised and dare not order from him.Sure he will give discounts but I am sure they will never be in the range of what I am willing to pay.SO I started to look at Ebay for some used Hoyt compounds.I been asked to join another Archery club but I have no time to do that and with no personel gear, I cannot go also.I am trying to learn how to shoot with better skills and then decide on what gear I want.So far I am so interested in Ultratec and Pro Elite from Hoyt only.


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

That sounds like the best route to go I guess, but the service can be worth its weight in gold if you are a true novice, then again I have found the guys at my range to be super helpful, I can't imagine the guys at yours being any different.

Tax is relatively low to import so why not look at buying from the US and shipping it? The bigger archery stores will most likely have a bulk discount from the courriers. I use UPS to import all my knives or USPS. Do not use DHL they are by far the worst bunch of people I have ever worked with, which is pretty ironic since UPS has a horrible rep in the US, but here they are great. They also deal with Yamato so you can get stuff delivered via Yamato even though UPS may be off that day or if there is a problem, just call customer service and they will really look after you. DHL will probably list a bow as WMD and quaranine it for 10 billion years until its deemed 'safe' (morons)

Asking around here things tend to be double the price of the US stuff.


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Strange that Shibuya won't service your bow. I don't think you'd have any problem getting service at Asahi... though you wouldn't qualify for the 50% discount they offer to folks who bought at their shop.

Ya, I was shocked when I saw the price lists here. Unbelievable. I think you're right about it being about double the price here, Simon_Ed. My old man's ordered mine back home for me and will ship it when it eventually comes in. Can't wait.

Zamochit, do you mind me asking what other clubs you've heard about/ been to? I'm thinking of checking out the Meguro Archery Association and there's a *huge *range in Musashi-Koganei that has all the FITA distances.


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## zamochit (Apr 3, 2006)

Most of the guys who practice at the Shibuya Sports Center are from the Shibuya Bee Club.I think the Shibuya Archery guy is also a member there.I got just 1 regular guy who shoots componds at my place.And the other person is a salesguy so I cannot ask him much unless I want to buy from him.
The price for a Ultratec was just about $1500 without any accesories.So I was shocked that I politely stoped asking him more questions.The only thing he did really help me was to measure my requirements.But they were done not accurately and with an older bow.So he asked if I wanted to try out some extra compund bows which he has.And I declined it,because he wants me to buy everything from him.
So would not be nice if I got it directly from USA and then ask him to tune and do the other stuff.Since I am a beginner, I will try to look for a second hand and ask the other guy to help me with the setup.Why don't you drop by Shibuya Sports Center on Friday evening.The practice from 6 pm to 9 pm for just 200yen. And they got free recurve bows and arrows you can use.But for compunds, I think I am using the only one they have so you have to bring your own gear.


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Elhaz, are you a Brit or Canadian? The 'Old man' bit put up a red flag.:wink:


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

> Elhaz, are you a Brit or Canadian? The 'Old man' bit put up a red flag.


Add some white to your red flag and you've got it. Yep, I'm Canadian. Didn't know "old man" was a Commonwealth thing.  


Thanks for the invite Zamochit. I might be able to make the last hour but I'm not sure. I may wait until my own bow arrives before popping in though. But just out of curiosity, do they have 70 inch recurves? I was lucky and joined my club just when they were doing some equipment overhauls. The sweet people there ordered a set of long limbs and some long arrows, with me (and future monkey-armed club members) especially in mind.

Simon_Ed, are you on the Keihintohoku Line? Where do you think the best place would be to hook up? I actually live more towards Yokohama but work in Ikebukuro.


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Yes, I'm on the Keihintohoku line in Kawaguchi. Oridinarily I would have said an Irsih pub as a meting place, but I gave up drinking in the new year after discovering that I was going through a bottle of Rum in about 3 days :embara: . So, Starbucks or similar may be a good idea as my other vice is Coffee. 

Being self employed has its perks (other than ulcers from stress) so I am pretty flexible time wise.

:cocktail:


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## zamochit (Apr 3, 2006)

Well Elhaz, I am about 175cm talls and I used an old Hoyt Recurve last time.And I think they have more recurves but mine was 40lbs.I think it would be fine.But not exactly sure of the size because it's not mine and I have access to them only on Fridays.Please drop by on Friday if you have the time, the shooting range is on the ground floor.I would be there from 7 pm to 9 pm.But keep in mind that the equipment is not up to date.So thats why everyone brings thier own set to the range.I am the only one still undecided wheather to go compund or recurve But so far compound is more fun that recurve for me


I live near Shinjuku so meeting around Shinjuku would be much easier as you are near Ikebukuro.And Simon, depends on you also.


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## WIbow (Nov 10, 2004)

Welcome!


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## outside (Mar 29, 2006)

hey, welcome to AT. i'm a newbie here also. i'm also enjoying reading this thread about you guys there in japan. i've always wanted to go there. i hope you all get together and have a blast. i just had a thought. what's to hunt on that island anyway? how far would you have to go TO hunt? anyway, again, welcome to AT, enjoy the site and the people. thanks for an interesting thread to keep up with. 

outside


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Hey outside,

Thanks for the positive words. While not very popular, there is a bit of a hunting community here. Here are a couple of interesting links: 

Everything you ever wanted to know about hunting in Japan

Crow hunting in Japan

To be honest though, I've done a bit of camping and hiking in some of the natural areas outside the big city and was disappointed by the lack of wildlife. It's there for sure, but nowhere near what I was used to seeing and hearing back home. In most places (crows excepted) I, personally, don't think Japan has much in the way of game to spare for hunting. I'd honestly feel guilty taking anything here, at least in the central Honshu area. But then, I could just be looking in the wrong places. And according to one of my Japanese friends (originally from the northern part of Japan, Hokkaido), the government doesn't take nearly as much interest in conservation/hunting issues as the North American governments do... so I don't know how well-balanced their resource management is with regard to this. 

Anyway, maybe if I ever move to a more northerly rural area someday, I'll look more into it.

Hope you find the links interesting.


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

Hey Simon_Ed,

Starbucks it is then. I'm a coffee addict myself. Shinjuku or Shibuya are both fine for me, though I usually work afternoon and evenings so I may be a bit of a latecomer to any evening get-togethers. Are you guys free sometime in the next couple of weeks?

As for the Shibuya club, I'll definitely stop by some Friday night, Zamochit. It'll probably be after my bow comes in though. The other day, with the plastic rental bow I'm using now (which is about as tuned to me as possible for rental gear) I shot 301 (six ends of six at 30 m)! Took me ages to break out of the 280s. Switching to a different set-up for an evening might just be a little frustrating.


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## outside (Mar 29, 2006)

*thank you very much*

hey,

just wanted to thank you for the information you shared and the links as well. i did enjoy them very much. you guys have a great time there, i'd like to see you all get together. could be dangerous:wink: . lol. again, thank you.


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Hey Guys,

There is actually an abundance of Deer here especially in Hokkaido and even as close as Tanzawa (about 70 mins from Shinjuku on a regular train) I have sold a fair few pairs of Steiner binoculars to guys that say they want them for hunting.

I might be a bit busy in the next few weeks as we are planning on a move to the country (whoo-hoo) so any free time I have I need to be working stuff out. Evenings are bad for me, but mornings are fine.


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## Elhaz (Mar 29, 2006)

I'm glad to hear that about the deer. Guess I _have _been looking in the wrong places. I did see a kamoshika once, in the mountains, and of course a fair number of monkeys... but I don't think we can hunt monkeys, can we?  

Mornings are actually really good for me too! Let me know when you get a bit of free time and we can tip a cup or two.

In other news, I picked up a bowcase today... soft, backpack style. It's a little depressing since the only things in it are an empty arrow case, a bow stand, a stringer, and a Hoyt super rest. Only another three weeks to wait. Sigh.

Hey and if you ever get into Shibuya Archery (where I got my case), they have one of the gold-plated Hoyt anniversary Trykons. Very cool!


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## Simon_Ed (Mar 29, 2006)

Sorry for the tardy reply.

Usually Wednesdays are best for me as I dont have to train.


Talking of hunting, I was on my bike the other week on a training ride and saw what looked like a crow about 100 yards away, as I got closer I kept revising my opinion until I actually started to believe my eyes. It was a Hawk, half Peregrine and half something else, bought in the UK and brought here to hunt Crows. What a majestic animal, I have never been so close to one outside of a zoo. The guy that owned him said it only takes them about a month of training with the meat on a string that they swing around to get ready to hunt.

Really made my day


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