Blood types: new horoscopes?
How your blood may define your personality
Albina Khouzina
Do you believe that your astrological sign has some part in your personality and fate? The idea that a horoscope can determine your personality and even predict the kind of year you will have. Horoscopes are popular in western culture, but in Japanese culture it is believed that it is your blood type that determines your character.
The association with blood types and personality has been popular in Japanese culture for decades, ever since the book Understanding Affinity by Blood Type written by Masahiko Nomi became a bestseller in 1971. Its not only personality that is determined by your blood category — it is also believed that there are certain foods that can or cannot be digested by some types and has been coined “The Blood Type Diet.”
The four different kinds of blood all have different traits associated with them yet there is no scientific evidence to prove it as of now. Still the idea of your blood determining who you are is very popular in East Asia, and can sometimes even determine if you will get hired or find your soul mate. In several cases ‘what type is your blood?’ is a very popular question. Surprisingly, even most Japanese celebrities, politicians and athletes will also name their blood type in their public information.
The four different blood types; A, B, AB or O, are thought to determine your temperament but it also determines how you interact with other people. Each type has its own name; A is the Farmer, B is the Hunter, AB is the Humanist and O is the Warrior. None of this has ever been proven by science and yet the characterization still exists, and has been associated with bullying and segregation of certain blood types.
“Its like any other horoscope really, its based on points that everyone can relate to and there’s some points where you will think ‘no, that’s not me at all’” said Arielle Berze, a student at MRU who knows about personalities associated with blood types and has lots of relatives who believe it. An O blood type herself, Berze believes with only half the points associated with her category.
Type B, or the Hunter, is associated with the worst traits and is the least desirable to have. In 2011 Japan Minister for Reconstruction, Ryu Matsumoto, resigned from his position after making harsh comments and later blamed his frankness partially on his B blood type. The B type has the most negative association with men, and women will often not date the Warrior blood types as they are considered “players”.
Your genes determine your blood type, and all it really says about you — according to western traditions — is which antigen (protein on the top of the red blood cell) you inherited, but it is one of the biggest talking points in Japan. While it is really popular is Asia, most Canadians don’t actually know their blood type unless they maybe donated blood and most people will never need to know unless they have a medical procedure.
Blood types, or horoscopes they all try to give us the cheat sheet to who we are, or supposed to be. Some may believe every word of their predicted personality while others don’t agree at all, and like everything in life, everyone is very different. Having a certain sign or blood type may determine your characteristics, but what is written can also influence you to act the way the chart tells you to.
