Here’s a eulogy crossposted from my original deviantART entry to start things off…
Today was a rather ordinary day. I attended my Sociology class, then, deciding that I was in the mood for sweets, headed over to Nijiya Market for some milk tea and maple bread. I headed over to my next class – the ever-dreaded Algebra II – and, while taking in a lecture on cube roots and how to be eternally rid of them, I munched and sipped happily on the pair.
After the class (in which half of it was admittedly playing the excellent Mother 3/EarthBound 2 translation), I decided that more milk tea was in order, and visited Strawberry Park, which is this strip mall oriented toward the Japanese community in the Saratoga/Santa Clara area. I did indeed obtain my milk tea from the Mitsuwa Marketplace there, but I also made another purchase: a Japanese keyboard, from a little shop to the right of Mitsuwa, called User’s Side (formerly Grow Up Japan).
User’s Side billed themselves as a “PC pro shop” from Akihabara, but didn’t limit themselves to just PC equipment – they stocked all kinds of import goods, the most notable being video games and video game accessories. Among these were some neat stuff, such as one-handed “RPG controllers”, Hori arcade sticks (of which a number have been purchased by my group of friends), official PS2 Multitaps (are these even sold in America anymore?) and game posters (A poster I have from User’s Side – a poster for the console release of beatmaniaIIDX 13: DistorteD – hovers above me tacked to the wall). My friends and I visited User’s Side every time we passed by Strawberry Park for Kinokuniya runs, and someone out of our group always found something that would come in handy. Even if I passed by alone, User’s Side never failed to charm me with their stock. And, most importantly, the prices on their goods were always reasonable and certainly better than what the online stores had to offer.
And now, User’s Side had closed, indefinitely, after having given the public two weeks’ notice and sale.
I stopped in front of User’s Side to stare at it, for I would never be able to see it as it was again. At that time, an employee came out and announced that they were closed. I replied that I was just passing by one last time because they were going away.
After a moment of silence, the employee asked, “Did you want to take a look inside? We still have things that we haven’t gotten rid of.”
“Sure,” I said, and he called to the attendant inside and told him that I would be browsing for a bit.
The lighting in the store was dim. Not much was left inside the shop. A handful of import video games sat on the side, their prices having been reduced to $14 as a last-ditch sales effort. Computer wires and software sat against the wall, a sign in Japanese proclaiming that they had been slashed by 60% to 80% – as an example, their copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection had been cut from $1,100 to something around $200.
And then I spotted the keyboards. A stack of various keyboards had their prices slashed by 80%. I decided that I should at least pay them a final tribute before I would never see the store as it was again, and grabbed a Logitech (or, rather, Logicool – apparently someone beat them to the name “Logitech” in Japan) slimline keyboard. The register rang up the keyboard for eight-plus-tax.
As the attendant gave me the receipt, I inquired, “I’m curious: why are you guys closing down?”
The answer was a nonchalant “I don’t even know, to be honest.”
And so, I left the store carrying my supposed $40 keyboard and went home. The moment I came home, I plugged the keyboard into my laptop, played Mother 3 for a bit, and started typing this entry in full.
For sure, I will miss User’s Side. There is a store in the same strip mall that does still sell import games, but are more focused on offering Japanese mobile phone services to the public, rather than selling all kinds of neat doodads that might catch my eye. They’re also pushing their online store in lieu of a brick-and-mortar shoppe, but, for me, there’s just something inexplainable about the tangible experience that makes all the difference.
I’d rather pay for this keyboard in full than see the store go away, but what’s done has been done, and another part of my childhood has faded into mere memory.
For now, saraba, User’s Side; you’ve had a great run. See you online.
