Freeza vs. Freeta Saga – Part-time in Japan

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“You there, are you a freeter? How do you think you’re going to make your own living in the future?”, Freezer, the super villain out of Dragon Ball, challenges and mercilessly points out the differences between regular and part-time workers in Japan. The Japanese labor market is sure no bed of roses and as a freshman to the working world, you want to make up the mind well in what direction to steer your carrier – it’s all or nothing!

A work-related story from Japan I came across that I like to write about out of personal affinity. It’s about regular full-time employment known as Seishain (正社員・せいしゃいん) or Seishokuin (正職員・せいしょくいん) and part-time employment, referred to with the English loanword Paatotaimu (パートタイム) or its abbreviated version, Paato (パート).

Having some working experience under my own belt in the country, I’m always interested in topics related to work and developments, even though there are obviously more fun activities to do in Japan 😉.

I didn’t Aim For Gods, but sometimes I caught myself playing with the thought of becoming a ‘Japanese’ salaryman (サラリーマン) 💼. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish though, not for a native Japanese, not less so for a foreigner as the story will show. So I had to stick to ‘full-time’ part-time jobs during my stay. What this means and what’s it all about with the part-timers (パートタイマー; パートさん; 短時間で働く人; 短時間労働者) in Japan anyway? Well, here is my latest article:

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Sanei Boueki Plush Dolls – A Fluffy World

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 If you are after faithfully reproduced fluffy game characters like Mario & Co., Sanei Boueki is your brand! Besides their best-selling plush toy series, the Super Mario All Star Collection, you find many more cuddly friends to gather up.
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Due to my activities in the past when living and working in Japan, I curiously started to develop a fondness for a couple of Japanese toy companies. One of those is Sanei Boueki (三英貿易・さんえいぼうえき; San-ei Boueki), which grew somehow dear to me. If you are a fan of game merchandise and Japanese popculture collectibles, the name should ring some bells, but I want to introduce it a little further with this article. Welcome to the Sanei’s plushy world!

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Golgo 13 – Personal Safety Instructions for Abroad the Japanese Way

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How would you want people to memorize a stuffy, stiff safety measure manual and get them to sign up for the Travel Register (たびレージ), if you were the authorities? Well, Japan has its own unique way to tackle the sort of problem and this is how it’s done. Plain, straight safety tips from a veteran pro that has been surviving under the dangerous ways of the world for 50 years.

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Castlevania Vengeance

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Konami‘s classic of the 80’s to return to the screens! Not as a game for once, but premiering as an anime on Netflix. Great artwork comes with it. This could become interesting and feed our thirst for nostalgia 😃.

As darkness to set over the land and evil to take hold in mortals, one fearless man to return from depths of oblivion to safe us all…

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NHK World Easy Japanese – Japanese Beginner Lessons

Sakura & Anna First Encounter
The main characters of the NHK World Radio Japan audio drama Easy Japanese Anna (right side), a student from Thailand and Sakura (left side), her Japanese tutor and friend, at their first encounter at the university campus. In the background, the cherry trees in full bloom indicate the arrival of spring, which is also the time for new school semesters in Japan.

Are you a budding student of Japanese, looking into ways to get your Japanese learning routine off the ground?

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Super Dragon Ball Heroes Card Game

20170330_Super Dragon Ball Heroes HeaderSince my last pop-culture related post nearly 2 years have passed and it was more or less about the same subject 😝 With all the community and fan blogs on anime and manga out there I’m never able to keep pace, so I rather choose to focus on other areas. I make an exception with this article though as I did at the time when I wrote about the release of Dragon Ball Super 🔗. Back then, it was also the first time I learned about Dragon Ball Heroes (ドラゴンボールヒーローズ; DBH) and actually intended to make a post about it. However, priorities changed and I left it on the side. Now, I incidentally came across the topic again just recently and it bugged me that I never managed to write that post. So I shall pick it up once more and set about this article under the motto, better late than never 😄 Here we go!

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It should have become an ordinary afternoon. School is finished and homework is done, you and your friends rally to the favorite spot in town, the local game center to immerse in carefree hours of play and to talk shop about Dragon Ball – your favorite hobby! But things turn out totally different, as you suddenly get sucked into the game with heart and soul, the moment you place down those cards onto the gaming machine monitor…

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Kaji Meiko – New Single out now!

kaji meikoAnd she is back! – While work for next articles is waiting in my drawer, I thought to make a short post on the release of a new single (maxi) by popular ballad singer and movie cult siren Kaji Meiko (梶  芽衣子・かじ  めいこ)😍. I’m a big fan of her music and have translated two of her songs so far here on MyLittle Dejima. The links for those articles you may find at the end ⬇ of this post – tune in🎶.

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AmazonGlobal Otaku and Popular Character Stores at amazon.co.jp

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amazon.co.jp got you settled with everything you need, directly from Japan to your door steps!

A few months ago, back in October 2016, I posted the first version of this article, however, a change corrupted some of the settings😤 and it’s no longer appearing properly on Google (sigh, technology 😩!), which lead me to post this again. Might have been a WordPress glitch, but I hope the new article stays unaffected. The former article I left as is though, as some visitors might still strand there (see Edition History on the bottom⬇). The main content remains mostly the same except for some minor editing. Well, here we go again🏃💨!

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The unfulfilled Ambition of an Edo Police Chief Inspector

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「待っていたぞっ、火付盗賊改メ、長谷川平蔵じゃ!」・’I have been waiting for you! This is chief inspector of the arson and robbery department, Hasegawa Heizou – freeze!’, he proclaims in typical manner as he catches criminals red-handed on the crime scene. He wears his signature soldier helmet of authorized rank, the Jingasa (陣笠・じんがさ) and in his hand he thrusts out a short, metallic truncheon, called a Jitte (十手・じって, usually of metal with a hook on the side to ward off sword attacks). Nothing escapes his sharp sight and what he aimed for, he will not let of the hook again – watch out you villains out there!

After my first stint into Japanese history with the article about the Shimabara Rebellion, this article I like to devote to Hasegawa Nobutame (長谷川宣以・はせがわのぶため; 1745-1795), a historic figure of the same era, the Edo Period (江戸・えど; 1603-1868). The name Hasegawa Nobutame might not ring many bells because in Japan he is more commonly known by the name of Hasegawa Heizou (長谷川平蔵・はせがわへいぞう), or his alias Onihei (鬼平・おにへい).

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