"Bang bang" go our kids' guns in Japan. "Ban ban," in katakana, goes their imagination as they shoot invisible, stick or toy guns with no kickback, bullets or deadly consequences attached.
Across the Pacific in America, in the shadow of yet another horrific school shooting, there's a whole different mood and conversation, as young people there seek to focus the nation on preventing any more bloodshed.
U.S. mass shootings are woven into the time line of my 10 years in Japan — in kindergarten classrooms, movie theaters, anywhere there is people. "My America," I cry inside, watching the news as I pour our coffee.