A tale of beginner’s luck and cheap prizes.

If you visit a Japanese festival or old-timey marketplace, you may very well come across a shooting gallery among the many game stalls. While the exact type of gun can vary, the most common is a simple cork gun, used to hit an array of paper targets, boxes, or toys with different point values for a chance to win typical carnival prizes like inflatable swords or glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

Surprisingly, our Japanese writer Kouhey had never tried one of these games until a twist of fate brought him to one in the town of Takayama, Ehime Prefecture. It was during a spontaneous trip to the hot spring resort district of Dogo Onsen — so spontaneous that he didn’t even take the time to consider the fact that he didn’t really like hot springs.

At a loss for something to do, he asked a local who told him that there was an interesting shooting gallery in Dogo Onsen. Kouhey didn’t hesitate to hop a bus from Matsuyamashi Station for 20 minutes until he reached the main shopping street of the area.

After making his way through the crowds for a while, Kouhey hit the sign for his target destination.

After a short way down a side street he arrived at Shooting Gallery Kewpie (Shatekiya Kewpie).

At the entrance, several sheets of paper were hung to commemorate the times this establishment has been featured in TV segments over the years.

It works like most shooting galleries in that you pay 400 yen (US$2.70) for five corks. The main difference is that these targets are exclusively Kewpie dolls.

Nailing a larger flesh-toned Kewpie will earn one point, a smaller pink one is good for two points, and the tiniest green ones are worth three points.

Cumulative points can be exchanged for prizes. One to five points can purchase items like manga or small toys.

Higher amounts of points can access larger and higher quality toys like stuffed gorillas and inflatable police cars.

The owner explained the rules to Kouhey as they were written on a sheet of paper under the targets. Players must keep both feet on the ground, not fire the gun while it’s empty, not use discarded corks, and handle the guns carefully. In addition, any ricochets that knock over Kewpies do not count.

With all that cleared up, Kouhey was handed a bowl of corks to begin his challenge.

He wasn’t too proud to admit to the owner that this was his first time, and luckily the old man was kind enough to give him some pointers on what to do.

However, being the dutiful reporter Kouhey is, he wanted to document the process first-hand with his smartphone. This created a problem in that he needed to use one hand to operate the gun and the other to operate the camera because, apparently, he was too proud to ask the owner to do that.

As a result, his first-ever shot went clear over Kewpie’s head and smacked into the heavy black curtain with a disappointing thwup. His next four shots were no better and our reporter’s future as a sharpshooter came to an early end.

But determined to hit at least one cherub, Kouhey purchased another bowl of corks. The owner even did his best to teach him how to shoot one-handed, but he simply lacked the steadiness needed to hold either a gun or a camera in one hand.

The second round went just as well as the first, leaving our reporter 0-10. He started to panic, not just because he was a terrible shot but because he intended to write an article about this experience which was fast becoming as pathetic as his aim.

Not wanting to walk away without anything to show for it, he purchased his third bowl of corks and felt a renewed determination as he loaded his gun.

After the third shot from his toy rifle, Kouhey slowly put down his gun and looked over at the owner, who had a disappointed look on his face. He had still hit nothing but curtain and there were only two corks left.

After loading his fourth round, he took a deep breath and held his gun as still as possible before squeezing the trigger.

▼ Kouhey: “?!”

Our reporter couldn’t believe it. He had taken out two Kewpies with a single shot that rivaled the talents of Vash the Stampede, Nobita Nobi, and Ryo Saeba combined. Even the owner sprung to life and shouted, “What?! Amazing! Two targets with one hand on your first time!”

Kouhey then completely whiffed his last shot, but that was okay after the miracle that had just occurred. Also, one of those points from the ricochet technically didn’t count according to the rules explained earlier, but the owner didn’t have the heart to remind him of that.

It didn’t matter anyway because either one or two points made him eligible for the same range of prizes. Our reporter selected a styrofoam glider based on an F-47D Thunderbolt, the real version of which he would have no chance of hitting from 10 feet away.

This, of course, was nowhere near worth the 1,200 yen ($8) he paid to play. Still, he had a lot of fun and made a special memory as a result. He hoped to do it again someday and would recommend Shooting Gallery Kewpie to anyone during their visit to the Dogo Onsen area.

Shop information
Shotting Gallery Kewpie / 射的屋 キューピー
Ehime-ken, Matsuyama-shi, Dogoyunomachi 6-20
愛媛県松山市道後湯之町6-20
Open 5:15 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]