It was several years ago that I came across that event which was so hideous that I even now get chilled to the core when I recollect it.
At that time, I visited Japan from Louisiana together with Willy, a friend of mine, and enjoyed the cycling journey in various regions in Japan.

"That" came about when we were cycling on the road near a rustic village in Hokuriku region on the way to Kanazawa. We passed an old Japanese farmer who was riding a tractor, and I found him gazing at us in a frown as if he ran into a kind of serpent.
All of a sudden, behind us, the old guy shouted "Gaijin (an offensive word for the foreigner)". At first, when I turned around and looked back, I doubted if what I saw was the reality or the nightmare. The old guy was pointing a hunting rifle at us!
"What are you doing!?" Willy asked him. He shot my friend and, alas, poor Willy died. Full of fury, I began chasing the tractor on which the murderer rode. Hardly had I heard a shot of the rifle when I lost my consciousness with a bloody pain.

Later, I came to my sense to find myself lying on the bed in the hospital in Imizu.
The police told me that they failed to search for the criminal and that Japanese people in the countryside, quite unlike urban ones, were awfully conservative and detested anyone who was different from them in any points，