Bingo. Don't try to apply rationale to government, especially in Japan.
Don't get me wrong. I'd love for it to get a public release, I'm just reading the current situation.
Something to consider is that it might be out of the hands of TM. They've fulfilled/are fulfilling a government contract remember. It might dictate no public sales. I had a read through it the SDF procurement requirements specification and apparently it needs to make a gun shot sound when it fires. Unclear if that's an electronic sound like one of their bolt rifles or if the report of a GBB would accomplish that.
Yeah. Talking about the airsoft type 20 too really. Just that it wasn't a product announcement or anything and the general consensus from the show was "maybe they'll release one in the future".