Retro Game Store Reviews: Hard Off Fujisawa

I felt like it was about time to talk about a Hard Off for my retro game store reviews and while there are many to talk about I wanted to share one from my prefecture that is a good ole’ standby. The Fujisawa Hard Off was one of the first ones I visited when I started my retro game adventure a few years back. I had visited it before for Magic cards when I had friends that got together to play in the area, and that’s how I knew about it. It just took me another year or so after that to make it back there for the video games. It’s actually part of 3 stores. The first and second floor were clothing and furniture (House Off), the third floor was trading cards and anime things (Hobby off), and the games were on the 4th floor. You’ll be tired once you climb the stairs up there but it’s worth it.

The Selection

Fujisawa City is a huge suburb around the Kamakura area in Kanagawa, Japan. That means you have a lot of people who work in the area and commute to other places like Yokohama, Tokyo, etc. It’s a great place to raise a family and has some of the best shopping in the area, so it’s no surprise that this store would have a great selection. People are probably always bringing in game stuff to sell and that’s why this Hard Off is stocked so well. Almost every section, be it consoles, accessories, or games all have a healthy inventory. While not massive, there is a good chance you’ll find something neat or interesting while shopping there. It goes as far back as the Famicom and Gameboy, and also has quite a few new games for the Switch and PS4.

The Pricing

I’ve bought a few things at the store from time to time, but most recently I found this copy or Sonic Adventure DX and a cool Club Nintendo DS Lite bag. I’ve seen similar similar things priced double or 1.5 times the items in this store, so I was happy to purchase these for lower. Prices always tend to be different from store to store, even in the same chain, but luckily the Fujisawa store ended up being on the lower end of the spectrum. It’s not super cheap, but many games are fairly priced and affordable (unlike stores in Tokyo which will probably rip you off). The stuff in the cases will probably always be a little bit pricey, but that’s pretty much normal wherever you go. Behind glass cases = “my price”, and not necessarily the market price. I’d also like to point out that prices DO eventually change, but this store never seemed to be super quick to adjust their prices to the market value of games. That can work both in and against your favor.

Access

You’ll find Fujisawa station on the JR Tokaido and Shonan Shinjuku Lines or the Odakyu Enoshima line. It’s not as big of a transport hub as Ofuna station is (one stop before it), but some of the biggest train lines in the area do stop there. If you’re traveling by bullet train you could stop at either Odawara (coming from the west) or at Shin Yokohama (coming from the east) on the Tokaido bullet train.

Once you get to Fujisawa station, it’s a brief 5-7 minute walk from the North exit to the store. Aside from the Shizuoka Surugaya store I talked about before, it’s probably one of the easiest if not THE easiest retro game stores to get to in the area (or so far at least).

The Verdict

While Fujisawa usually isn’t on any tourist’s radar, if you’re a treasure hunter or love thrift stores it should be. There are a number of other Book Offs and Hard Offs in the area which make it a great stop on a day trip to the area to see them all. Kamakura and Enoshima are amazing sightseeing locations and only a few stops away, so why not get cultured and then get some games afterwards?

• Selection: 4.5/5
• Pricing: 4/5
• Ease of Access: 5/5

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