Friday, October 14, 2005

Amusing myself one day while browsing the internet, I came across a short but sweet story on why the Japanese stress blood types. If you have ever read a character profile from a manga, chances are their blood type was shown.

Fascinated by this, I decided to do some more research. Through my searches, I learned that nearly every Japanese citizen knows their own blood type. Furthermore, they’re surprised that Americans don’t. The reason they know theirs and we commonly don’t is because Japanese school, involved more in the health of their students, have examinations every year to check out how the student body is doing. The most common measurements are height, weight, etc. – the stuff the doctor does when you need a school physical. But they also take the blood type.

So in Japan, when you are introduced to somebody, you might go along the course of name, job/school, where you’re from, hobbies, (possibly) birth date/age, and your blood type. To us, it’s about equivalent of asking what your horoscope is or something.

Even if you don’t know your blood type, it is still quite interesting to give these a read. Heck, I don’t even know mine, even though I’ve had about 10+ blood tests in the past four years. If you really want to find out what “type” you are, either ask your parents or ask your doctor. If at all possibly, even try consulting past medical records.

Anyways…let’s begin!

Type A Blood People with this blood type are believed to follow social patterns – these are certainly not your normal insane teenager running across the street after getting that box set – and customs while putting a great emphasis on personal relationships. A types are often organized – but with that comes the fact that if a plan changes, it’s gonna be a hassle. This translates to being that A people are sometimes high-strung and inflexible.
Because Type A blood is the most common blood type in Japan, the above characteristics are shown a lot in the whole society.
Characters With A Blood: Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop), Heero Yui (Gundam Wing), Vegeta (DragonBall Z), Hotohori (Fushigi Yûgi), Tetsuo (Akira), Lina Inverse (Slayers), Daisuke Niwa (DN Angel), Naru Narusegawa (Love Hina)

Type B Blood As opposed to Type A’s, folks with Type B blood tend to dislike the normal, the ordinary, and the rules. B types are often freethinkers with an attitude of go-with-the-flow. Because of their creative nature, it is said that B is the blood type of many artisans.
There was a myth a while ago – sometime in the 1940s or so – where the Japanese thought they were closer in relation to animals than to humans. This was because B blood is the type most often found in animals, and also the most common type in Japan at that time. Basically, this was quite offensive, and quickly disproved by scientists.
Characters With B Blood: Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto), Sanouske Sagara (Rurouni Kenshin), Miaka Yuki (Fushigi Yûgi), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), Chang Wufei (Gundam Wing), Kaname Chidori (Full Metal Panic), Ban Midou (Get Backers)

Type O Blood Those carrying Type O blood in their bodies tend to be found a lot in positions of leadership. O types are said to have strong personalities and opinions – not a bad thing, really, except when it comes to the fact that they sometimes have trouble listening to other people’s ideas. People of this blood type appear to look happy and carefree compared to the others. Supposedly, many teachers are said to have Type O blood.
Characters With O Blood: Vash the Stampede (Trigun), Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket), Sakura (Naruto), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Gene Starwind (Outlaw Star), Ginji Amano (Get Backers), Kaoru Kamiya (Rurouni Kenshin)

Type AB Blood Last but certainly not least, people with Type AB blood are said to be very calm and collected. No matter what comes up, AB’s tend to keep level heads when under pressure. When problems come up, they are able to take all the information and analyze it constructively and objectively.
Where do these good comparing abilities come from? It is said that sometimes, a person with AB blood can cover up their feelings because of their calmness. In the constant circle of goes-around, comes-around, it is believed that many reviewers and critics have this blood type.
Characters With AB Blood: Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto), Gohan (DragonBall Z), Gojyo (Saiyuki), Ed (Cowboy Bebop), Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin), Trowa Barton (Gundam Wing)

Like every other personality-identifier, these blood listings are most certainly not found in any science book. But still, people in Japan believe that a person’s blood type greatly reflects who they are.
It would be moronic – foolish, to say the least – to try and classify the earth’s six-billion population into just four categories. The same goes for the Zodiac, the astrological signs, and, yes, the sleeping positions. But you know, these things are fun, and oftentimes, hold many grains of truth.
So if you plan on going to Japan and socializing a little bit, you might want to check-up on exactly what type of blood is running through your system.


** Oh yeah, by the way, if the blood description doesn’t really match the character, there were things I left out for space. Just thought I’d let ya know. ^^;;

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