I think airsoft is originally a Japanese thing - seems to be pretty big over there.
.
The guns certainly originated there. They also used to make some really amazing 1:1 scale models of firearms...
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
Bookmarks