Quick—do you know your blood type? Most people will probably answer no. A few—those who donate blood or who have required major surgery—might know, but I'm guessing that percentage is fairly low.
Come to Japan though and this turns into one of the most common questions you will be asked. Not only will you be asked it a lot, but you will find blood types everywhere! Even baseball cards and idol magazines list the blood type of the star.
Let's look at what the personality predictions are for each blood type and then I'll explain where this crazy idea comes from.
Blood Types and Personality Types
Type A
People with type A blood are said to be well-organized and pay attention to detail. They are friendly and like harmony, so they often play the role of peacekeeper among friends. They are reliable, but timid. They can get easily overwhelmed and stressed. Also they are highly sensitive and get hurt easily; because of this they tend to be introverts.
The majority of Japanese are type A.
Type B
People with type B blood are said to be creative and easy-going. They are curious but also loose interest easily. They often give their opinion without considering other people's feelings and can be self-centered and selfish. They don't like interference from others, which can be good at times but can also come across as uncoöperative.
Type AB
People with type AB are said to have a balanced combination of both type A and type B traits. Because of this, they can come across in different ways depending on the situation. They can be shy but outgoing, for instance. In Japan this type is fairly rare, so these people can be curiosities, sometimes perceived as geniuses, but also as lunatics. They are often perceived as strange and eccentric. And this type is said to be naturally curious themselves, chasing knowledge and ideas, sometimes to the detriment of everything else. They are not good at dealing with people and can come off as two-faced.
Type O
People with type O are said to be optimistic and outgoing. They are able to get along with anyone because they can hide their true feelings and control the situation to their advantage. They are highly confident. So much so that they can come across as arrogant jerks. They are natural leaders and very often take control of any group they are in. They are not good with details and are often late to events.
Most Japanese prime ministers have been type O.
That's the basic summery anyway. As with many fortune telling type things, these are often worded vaguely enough that any type can apply to anyone, and you will easily find conflicting descriptions of each type. That said, what I listed are usually the common ideas people have about each one. A = well-organized/uptight, B = creative/selfish, AB = wild/eccentric, O = in control/arrogant.
If you know your blood type, does the description fit you?
So where does this strange system of belief come from?
Origin of Blood Type Personality Predictions
This idea that blood types are linked to certain personality traits is a fairly new idea. The current popularity of it dates back to the 1970s, but it does predate that, going back to the 1910s.
It originally appeared in 1916 when a Doctor Kimata Hara proposed the idea in a research paper. It didn't gain much support from other scientists, but the military picked up on it and started assigning soldiers based on blood type. I haven't been able to find if this practice survived the war. Also in 1927, Takeji Furukawa, a psychologist and teacher at a girl's school decided that tests based on academic ability alone were insufficient for gauging the future success potential of a person so he campaigned to have blood types added to the application process. He was somewhat influenced in his ideas by German scientist Emil von Dungern who had announced that people with type B blood were inferior to people with type A blood.
With the exception of military use and the weird psychologist, the idea quickly disappeared and was mostly forgotten about until a quack named Masahiko Nomi reintroduced the idea in the 1970s to sell his book. He was great at self-promotion: his book became a bestseller and his idea of the link between blood types and personality spread like wildfire. Before long actors were being asked their blood-types, singers listed theirs in their albums, and coaches started to consider it when scouting players. Even the business world took it up and would ask for your blood type when you applied for a job.
Before you ask, yes, it became a huge factor in matchmaking! There are books upon books detailing compatibility between different blood types and matchmaking parties and services make detailed use of it. Many matchmaking services will list detailed stats of success percentages and these include blood type info.
Scientists were quick to point out this was all nonsense, but they were drowned out by the tremendous hype for the idea. And the rest is history.
Nowadays you will find it everywhere. Besides all the places I have covered above, you will also find diet books that tell you the best diet for your blood type. You'll come across candy that claims to only be for certain blood types. There are comic books about the adventures of people with certain blood types. You can even find condoms that are suppose to work best for certain blood type pairings.
It has become such a part of modern Japanese life that it has caused some issues. There is burahara, blood harassment, a type of bullying. People will complain about this from time to time and it has fueled a small anti-blood type personality movement.
So... what blood type are you?
(I don't actually own those Shohei Ohtani and Hideki Matsui cards I posted above. I wish.)
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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