血液型 Blood type horoscopes in Japan and Korea

In Japan, one of the first things you are asked when you meet someone new is "What is your blood type?" which to most foreign people is sort of a funny or even almost creepy question to ask a near stranger. We only think about blood types when we think about donating blood or about being in an accident and needing a transfusion. Basically, blood types in the West only make us think about hospitals. But here in Japan, blood types carry significance and are similar to horoscopes for Japanese people. There are four blood types: A, B, O and AB. If you don't know your blood type, people will be shocked. Blood type is called ketsueki gatta in Japanese.

I first found out about the blood types when I worked at a Korean school in Vancouver. Only Japanese and Korean people care about blood types. (Occasionally Taiwanese people, too, but it's not a pan-Asia thing. For example, in mainland China, nobody knows about ketsueki gatta.) I asked my students to tell me about the blood types and learned a lot about them from the kids I was teaching. Some people said that type A was loyal, trustworthy, generous and sweet while others thought type A was boring, strict, controlling and too shy and quiet. The same goes for all the other types. It's important to remember that whatever you say your blood type is, you will be judged and depending on who asks you, they may take it really seriously. If you're an English teacher, don't ever tell your students what your blood type is. I am serious. Some students think that certain blood types are lazy or unmotivated and if you're that type and you're their teacher, they won't respect you. This has happened to two different people I know.

That's where being a foreign person comes in handy. Just say you don't know. Unless you've donated blood, you probably aren't lying: you probably really don't know or care what your ketsueki gatta is. Just be coy and ask "which one do you think I am?" or ask them about their own type and what types they are most compatible with. If you're a guy and a Japanese/Korean girl that you want to date asks you what your blood type is, I'd recommend saying you don't know, even if you do know. If you really like her, don't say anything until you find out what she says about it, because usually, this is a dealbreaker sort of question. Especially if you're AB, which is the "crazy" blood type who nobody likes or the B type, who most girls think are cheaters. Most girls 15-30 take this pretty seriously. Word of warning. The picture at the top of this post is from a Korean movie called "My boyfriend is a Type B" about a type A girl who falls for a passionate, wild, irresponsible type B boy. People (especially girls) take this stuff seriously.

The only way I judge a personality by blood type is by whether or not a person asks you what your type is. You can tell a bit about the kind of person they are by whether or not they ask you about your blood type. The same kind of people that would ask you "what's your sign?" in Western countries are the ones who will ask you about your blood type. Namely friendly young people, girls who read and care about fashion magazines, slightly flaky/hippie people and people who are trying to hit on you. Do you really want to date someone who judges you based on your blood type? That's just like dating someone who cares about what horoscope sign you are. If you're ok with that, wonderful. The only thing I think is a little bit odd is that I asked my students to do a show of hands as to who was which type and almost all my favorite students were O type blood. Of course, I couldn't ask them about that, though. Does anyone know an interesting English language website about these blood types?

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER!!