WHAT can you get for the man who has everything, in a backwater place like Saipan that you cannot obtain in Japan? The answer: a gun with real bullets.
That is the niche market someone has discovered. Billboards everywhere advertise 'Real Bullet Shooting' in Japanese.
I saw one across from my hotel room and stayed up all night debating, should I or shouldn't I? Finally, common sense prevailed. Like learning to swear and losing virginity, handling firearms is a manhood thing we men must accomplish.
The ad directed me to a department store on the ground floor of a shopping centre. The moment I mentioned guns, two shopkeepers rushed towards me, one with a 'menu', the other with a cash register strapped to her back.
The menu read: Plan A - four rounds with a semi-automatic rifle; Plan B - four rounds with a Magnum; Plan C - four rounds with a shotgun; and Plan D - a combination of the above.
I told the menu girl that I had never touched a gun before, and asked what I should choose. Thumping her chest with her fist, she replied: 'The shotgun of course. Boom. Real man.' But a street-smart guy like myself would not be so easily taken for a ride: never take what a vender recommends. So I took Plan D, the smorgasbord, thank you. It cost US$65 (about HK$500).