There is a popular belief in
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
KoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and other Asian countries that a person's
ABO blood typeThe ABO blood group system is the most important blood type system in human blood transfusion. The associated anti-A antibodies and anti-B antibodies are usually IgM antibodies, which are usually produced in the first years of life by sensitization to environmental substances such as food,...
or is predictive of his or her personality, temperament, and compatibility with others, similar to how
astrological signAstrological signs represent twelve equal segments or divisions of the zodiac. According to astrology, celestial phenomena reflect or govern human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so that the twelve signs are held to represent twelve basic personality types or characteristic modes...
s are used, though blood type plays a much more prominent role in Japanese society than astrology does in the West.
There is a popular belief in
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
KoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and other Asian countries that a person's
ABO blood typeThe ABO blood group system is the most important blood type system in human blood transfusion. The associated anti-A antibodies and anti-B antibodies are usually IgM antibodies, which are usually produced in the first years of life by sensitization to environmental substances such as food,...
or is predictive of his or her personality, temperament, and compatibility with others, similar to how
astrological signAstrological signs represent twelve equal segments or divisions of the zodiac. According to astrology, celestial phenomena reflect or govern human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so that the twelve signs are held to represent twelve basic personality types or characteristic modes...
s are used, though blood type plays a much more prominent role in Japanese society than astrology does in the West.
Ultimately deriving from ideas of historical
scientific racismScientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
, the popular belief originates with publications by
Masahiko NomiMasahiko Nomi was a Japanese journalist who advocated Takeji Furukawa's idea of an influence of blood type on personality. He was also known as a sumo essayist....
in the 1970s. The scientific community dismisses such beliefs as
superstitionSuperstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
or
pseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
.
History
The ABO blood group system is widely credited to have been founded by the Austrian scientist
Karl LandsteinerKarl Landsteiner , was an Austrian-born American biologist and physician of Jewish origin. He is noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the...
, who discovered three different
blood typeA blood type is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells . These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system...
s in 1900.
EthnicEthnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
studies showed different blood group distributions across the world (for example,
Asian peopleAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
were discovered to have a higher percentage of blood type B). This research was used by the Nazis to further ideas of supremacy over different races. These notions were debunked before
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invoked race laws such as the
Nuremberg LawsThe Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
, where the wording "German blood" is figurative for
Aryan lineageThe Ahnenpaß documented the Aryan lineage of citizens of Nazi Germany. It was one of the forms of the Aryan certificate ....
.
In 1926, Rin Hirano and Tomita Yashima published the article "Blood Type Biological Related" in the
Medical Journal of Army. It was seen to be a non-statistical and unscientific report, motivated by racism.
In 1927, Takeji Furukawa, a professor at Tokyo Women's Teacher's School, published his paper "The Study of Temperament Through Blood Type" in the scholarly journal
Psychological Research. The idea quickly took off with the Japanese public despite Furukawa's lack of credentials, and the militarist government of the time commissioned a study aimed at breeding ideal soldiers. The study used ten to twenty people for the investigation.
In another study, Furukawa compared the distribution of blood types among two different ethnic groups, the Formosans in Taiwan and the
AinuThe , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
of
Hokkaidō, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
. His motivation for the study appears to have come from a political incident: After the Japanese occupation of Taiwan following
Japan's victory over China in 1895The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
, the inhabitants tenaciously resisted their occupiers. Insurgencies in 1930 and in 1931 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Japanese settlers.
The purpose of Furukawa's studies was to "penetrate the essence of the racial traits of the Taiwanese, who recently revolted and behaved so cruelly". Based on a finding that 41.2% of a Taiwanese sample had type O blood, Furukawa assumed that the Taiwanese rebelliousness was genetically determined. The reasoning was supported by the fact that among the Ainu, whose temperament was characterized as submissive, only 23.8% had type O. In conclusion, Furukawa suggested that the Japanese should increase intermarriage with the Taiwanese to reduce the number of Taiwanese with type O blood.
Interest in the theory faded in the 1930s as its unscientific basis became evident. It was revived in the 1970s with a book by Masahiko Nomi, a lawyer and broadcaster with no medical background. Nomi's work was largely uncontrolled and anecdotal, and the methodology of his conclusions was unclear. Because of this, he was heavily criticised by the Japanese psychological community, although his books remain popular.
Current popularity
Discussion of blood types is widely popular in women's magazines as a way of gauging relationship compatibility with a potential or current partner. Morning television shows feature blood type
horoscopeIn astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, the astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. The word horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning "a look at the hours" In...
s, and similar horoscopes are published daily in newspapers. On Japanese Wikipedia, blood type is among the first attributes listed in the infoboxes for celebrities, frequently between birthdate and birthplace. A series of four books that describe people's character by blood type ranked third, fourth, fifth and ninth on a list of best selling books in Japan in 2008 compiled by Tohan Corporation.
Although there is no proven correlation between blood type and personality, it remains popular with the many
matchmakingMatchmaking is any process of matching two people for the purpose of marriage or a sporting contest.-Practice:In some cultures, the role of the matchmaker was and is quite professionalized...
services that cater to blood type. In this way, it is similar to the use of astrological signs, which is also popular in Japan. Asking one's blood type is common in Japan, and people are often surprised when a non-Japanese does not know his or her own blood type.
It is common among
animeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and
mangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
authors to mention their character's blood types, and to give their characters corresponding blood types to match their personalities. Some video game characters also have known blood types. In addition, it is common for video game series to allow for blood type as an option in their creation modes.
Blood type harassment, called "bura-hara" (
wasei-eigoare Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms: English constructions not used in the English-speaking world or by native English speakers, but that appear in Japanese. This should not be confused for foreign words gairaigo, which generally refer to words from European languages, especially American English...
-a portmanteau of "blood" and "harassment"), has been blamed for bullying of children in playgrounds, loss of job opportunities, and ending of happy relationships.
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
in many Asian countries allows users to include their blood type in their profile.
After then-Reconstruction Minister
Ryu Matsumotois a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet . A native of Fukuoka, Fukuoka and graduate of Chuo University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1990 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party...
's abrasive comments towards the Governors of Iwate and Miyagi forced him to step down from his post, he partially blamed his behavior on his blood type, saying "My blood's type B, which means I can be irritable and impetuous, and my intentions don't always come across."
Blood types are very important in South Korea as well. An example can be seen in the film
My Boyfriend Is Type BMy Boyfriend is Type B is a South Korean romantic comedy film from the year 2005. The basic premise of the film comes from the Japanese blood type theory of personality, which claims that a person's blood type can determine their personality traits...
where a girl is advised not to date a man because his blood type is B.
Further reading
- Toshitaka Nomi and Alexander Besher, You Are Your Blood Type: the biochemical key to unlocking the secrets of your personality. New York: Pocket Books, 1988. ISBN 0671633422
- Laura Miller, People Types: Personality Classification in Japanese Women's Magazines, The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 1977, pp. 436–452.
External links