What is Hard·Off?
Please press play on this audio:
What you are listening to is a song called “NSC-SC-1903”. I’ve only heard this song in a single place, and that place is Hard·Off.
Hard·Off is a store in Japan. It’s a bit like a pawn shop, but Japanese style. Everything is very neat, clean, and organized. I have a vague recollection of the workers wearing white gloves as they packed up my order at checkout. You’ll find a wide selection of items such as guitars, audio equipment, and retro video games.
When I say a “wide selection” of retro video games, I mean they have pretty much everything ever made, and at really reasonable prices in most cases. I went looking for a somewhat sought-after item, a Super Game Boy 2, and was able to find one for less than it would have cost me to import one on eBay. Every console, in various conditions and prices, is available in stock.
My favorite is the “junk” section. In North America, I think “junk” means “broken, trash, worthless”. I think in Hard·Off, “junk” just means “stuff we just don’t really want”. You’ll find hundreds of mass-market Famicom games for well under $1 each. I personally found myself a nice Game Boy Pocket in the junk section and it worked fine! I still have the 7/11 AAA batteries I bought to use in it.
Among the quirks of Hard·Off is the previously mentioned NSC-SC-1903 (which you should be hearing now). It’s pleasant isn’t it? Imagine listening to this song on repeat for an entire working shift. That’s what the Hard·Off employees do. You see, the store plays this song on a loop. In between repeats, the store has it’s own chant that plays, which you can hear below. It’s not much of a reprieve. I was definitely ready for a bit of fresh air after my 45 minutes in the store.
Hard·Off is actually a spin-off of “Japan’s largest chain of used bookstores”1, Book·Off. There is a Wikipedia article for Book·Off, and they have some more information about the various stores they operate:
- Hard Off, selling electronic goods and hardware
- Off House, selling household items
- Hobby Off, selling hobby related goods
- Mode Off, selling used fashion
- Garage Off
- Liquor Off
I’ve never been to any of the other ‘Offs, only Hard·Off.
It made such a lasting impression on me that I commissioned a one-of-a-kind custom Game Boy DMG, imagined if it were an officially licensed Nintendo product.
My plan is to some day take this with be back to Japan, smuggle it into a Hard·Off store, and either buy it from them, or just leave it for someone else to buy. I could also try simply selling it to them but as a tourist with no language skills simply leaving it in the junk section seems fitting.
Oh, and that song, NS-SC-1903? It’s just from a stock sound library, you can listen to it on streaming. Or, if you’re insane like I am, you can buy yourself a license to use the song in your own works. Contract number: 2020-09-17-JD502745.