“What’s your blood type?”, “Oh, as I expected” and “Amazing blood type XX!” are common phrases in Japan. Why?? Because many people here believe that Blood Type personality is predictive of a person’s personality and compatibility with others around them.
Almost all Japanese people in Japan know their blood type but it can sometimes catch those new to Japan off-guard when asked those questions. It’s literally as normal as asking when your birthday is, or where you are from.
The first time I was asked “What is your blood type?”, followed with “Oh, as I expected”, I just stood there not understanding what was going on. I didn’t realize that I was confirming, or maybe affirming is a better word in this case anything by saying one letter of the alphabet. “Huh? What do you mean?” I asked, “I knew it” came the answer.. Answer? Was that an answer?? I was totally confused.
That was over 10 years ago, but I still remember wondering what on earth they thought they knew just because of one syllable.
Turns out, they had already “figured out” what my personality was like.
Fast forward to the present day. I now never get surprised when I hear these types of conversations or comments, but I don’t share those beliefs, so do not pay much attention to it. I usually just smile and just laugh it off.
So when I decided to write this post, I actually had to speak to some locals and check a few things because I couldn’t remember all the characteristics and details.
Disclaimer: The words that are used change depending on who you speak to, so these are more general ideas, not based on any expert opinions.
Blood Type Personalities
There is a lot of information on the characteristics that people with each Blood Type supposedly have, and the adjectives that appear in lists all differ slightly, However, the ones below seem to appear in some form pretty consistently.
How much do people care about this?
It depends! Some people swear by it, and some people just use it as a conversation starter, or ice breaker.
But alright, since we’re on the topic, let’s just look at a few things it’s supposed to affect .
- Personality
- Job type
- Suitable exercises
- Best way to diet
- Which foods you can digest easily
- Compatibility
Oh, did I get your attention when I said ‘Compatibility’? *wink*
I did a bit of research to get you started.
How do you know if you are compatible with someone?
(according to your Blood Type I mean)
There are different versions, but this is the one I see the most often.
- A with A or AB
- B with B or AB
- O with O or AB
- AB with AB, A, B, O
There are magazine, online articles, and books written on this topic and whether you believe in this kind of thing or just want to check it out for fun, I’m sure it’ll be an interesting read.
Let me know if you have anything to add in the comments.
Star
Image credits: Character vector created by lek_suwarin – www.freepik.com