Apr. 2003, Xene #33
Capillaries hold key to character
By Sian Thatcher




The party season has rolled in again and I'm standing in another tatami room with my colleagues. The festivities have yet to begin. People are moving awkwardly around long tables piled high with fishy delicacies. The question on everyone's mind is, "Where shall I sit?" Finally someone says, "Right, A on this side, B this side. AB over here and O opposite them." Relief swims over the faces of everyone but me.

"What are they talking about?" I ask.
"Blood type."
"But I don't know my blood type."

Everyone freezes with an incredulous stare that screams out: "You don't know your blood type?" They start guessing, "Well, she is quite neat, maybe type A," "But she enjoys swimming a lot, so possibly type O."

Confused and intrigued, I decide to do a bit of digging. It seems there is the belief in Japan that blood type reveals a lot about your character. This is what I discovered.

Type O: The Warrior
You are independent, adventurous and ambitious. You are often seen as a trend-setter, as loyal, passionate and self-confident. However, you can sometimes be vain, jealous and competitive. (Charlie Chaplin, Al Capone, Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II, John Lennon, Ronaldo)

Type A: The Farmer
Calm and patient, you enjoy harmony. You like being part of a group, and are sensitive and responsible. Your negative traits include overcaution, stubbornness and an inability to relax. (Adolf Hitler, George Bush Sr., Soseki Natsume, Ringo Starr, Britney Spears, Meg Ryan, O.J. Simpson)

Type B: The Hunter
You are very much an individualist and dislike custom. With a strong personality and an optimistic air, you are easy to get along with. You are creative and flexible, but can sometimes be too independent. (Akira Kurosawa, Noboru Takeshita, Paul McCartney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Arnold Palmer)

Type AB: The Humanist
You are cool, controlled and rational. While generally popular and at ease in social situations, you are sometimes too critical and stand-offish, and may have difficulty making decisions. (Jackie Chan, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Kim Yong Sam, Mick Jagger, Alain Prost, Bob Sapp)


Bloody Revolution

The pioneer in the field, the revolutionary in blood studies, was Furukawa Takeji (1891 - 1940). He proposed there was a link between blood type and personality in 1931, after working at a high school and observing the temperamental differences between applicants.

Furukawa proposed that humans are simple beings of only two personality types. His report stated that people of blood-type A were generally mild-tempered and intellectual, while people of blood-type B were the opposite, essentially dividing the population into "good" and "bad."

A great deal of research went into blood psychology in the 50's, 60's and 70's, mainly in Japan. Masahiko Nomi (1924 - 1981) and his son Toshitaka, who continues to work in the field, are responsible for making this a mainstream science. They have researched how blood type affects every area of life, including relationships, work and leisure.

In Japan, blood type influences people's lives in unexpected ways. For instance, some Japanese companies have planned departments around the blood types of their workforce. A baseball coach is reported to have used it in the selection of his teams. During World War II, Japan's Imperial Army is rumoured to have formed battle groups according to blood type, while a kindergarten has reportedly adapted its teaching methods along the same lines: The class is split according to blood type, and different teaching techniques are used depending on the group. It is also used extensively in dating services as an indicator of potential matches.

In 1930, after the blood-type/personality link was first suggested, a blank for blood type was added to job application forms, to better assess the potential employee's temperament.

As recently as 1997, the subject attracted enough attention for four of the five Japanese TV channels to broadcast programmes on the subject. Even today there is a daily forecast on morning television.

Discussing blood type is a key part of introductions. Any high school kids worth their salt never fail to enquire as to your blood type, as any Western teenager would do with star signs.

An industry has grown from the humble foundations laid by Furukawa. You can now buy blood-type chewing gum, soft drinks, calendars -- even condoms. The condoms are all the same, but give different instructions on how to approach the sexual encounter.

The Critics

Dr. Kiyoshi Ando, Professor of Psychology at Tokyo Women's Christian University, warns against believing in this too much, as there is no scientific evidence to support it. He says that using blood type as a topic for small talk is harmless, but he has misgivings about the wider ramifications. His first worry concerns the self-fulfilling prophecy. Basically, if you have type-B blood and you believe the qualities assigned to type B's apply to you, even if they don't, then you may start acting in a manner that denotes a type B. In the same way, if friends know you are type B, then they may treat you in a certain way. If you are treated like a type B, then you may begin to act like one even if you had exhibited none of the typical characteristics. And so the circle continues until people all become perfect stereotypes.

The second problem relates to prejudice. AB is the rarest blood type in Japan, and it has been found that people generally have negative impressions of people with such blood. Dr. Ando warns that decisions based on blood type "would constitute nothing but discrimination." He says, "We need to bear in mind the fact that there lurks a structure which will breed prejudice and discrimination, in talking about the relationship between blood type and personality."

On the plus side, most Japanese are said not to believe firmly in blood types, but see them merely as a topic of conversation, just as most Westerners do with horoscopes.

Why in Japan?

Blood type was a contentious issue in the 1920's and 30's. The interest in blood types in Japan grew as a reaction against Western racism. Scientists in the West found that type B was common in Asia, but rare in Caucasians. As type B was typical in animals, they argued that Asians were inferior, lower on the evolutionary scale. Japanese scientists were keen to disprove this ludicrous theory. Debate continued and the field became a popular "-ology."

Masao Ohmura, a professor of personality psychology at Nihon University doesn't believe that blood type has any bearing on personality. He suggests that the reason for the popularity of blood typ-ology in Japan is because the Japanese are genetically quite a homogeneous race, but do have different personalities and don't want to seem the same. The Japanese population, however, has a fairly even distribution of blood types. Hence, if grouped by blood type, diversity is created, even if it is only the illusion of diversity.

In Europe and America, however, the vast majority of people are type A or O, with only a few type B's and even fewer AB's. Therefore, most people would fall into two personality categories, an either/or choice of temperament, possibly explaining why blood typ-ology has not been a big hit overseas.

Interestingly, 90% of Japanese know their blood type, although whether this is the reason the fad became so popular or a consequence of its popularity is not certain. In contrast, their European and American peers are blissfully unaware of not only their blood type, but also the "blood typ-ology" phenomenon.

Diet

Americans by blood type (1998) Japanese by blood type (1998) source: ABO fan

All this is changing, however, and it is mainly due to one man, Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo. Thanks to him, the phenomenon is beginning to touch Western consciousness.

Dr. D'Adamo, an American, jumped on the blood-type bandwagon with his book entitled Eat Right 4 Your Type. This New York Times best-seller has sold over a million copies, been translated into 40 languages, and was named the most influential health book of the 1990's by Nutri-Books. While not as popular as Hollywood favourite the Atkins Diet, D'Adamo's version has attracted a few celebrity followers, including British actress Martine McCutcheon. His diet suggests that blood type is a product of evolution and hence affects the way your body responds to various foods. He says:

Type O's are the "original" blood type and respond best to the high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet of cavemen. Type A's descended from farmers around 25,000 BC, so they thrive on a high-carbohydrate/low-protein vegetarian diet. Type B's are nomads by origin, emerging around 15,000 years ago. They should eat a mixed diet. Type AB's, evolving within the last 1,000 years, are a fusion of A and B, and can enjoy comparable freedom, consuming a combination of the two diets.

Of course, if you are an AB or O you will probably dismiss all of this out of hand as New Age mumbo jumbo, but the more sensitive A or B may want to discover more.