Learn about Japanese culture with JapanesePod101.com. Today we introduce you to and look into an interesting and popular belief that blood type and personality are related. So what’s your blood type? Don’t miss today’s episode of Japanese Culture Class.
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 18th, 2006 at 5:44 am and is filed under Japanese Culture Classes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
29 Responses to “Japanese Culture Class #7 - What’s Your Blood Type?”
japanesepod101.com says:
February 18th, 2006 at 5:50 am
Mina-san! A few points about today’s lesson.
1) Kansai-dialect is used interchangably with Kansai-accent.
2) Tokushima, located on the island of Shikoku, has a dialect too, but this is heavily influenced by the Kansai area, hence the reason Hatsumi has a slight Kansai accent. Apologies as she didn’t speak enough for it to be realized, but hopefully in the future that will be rectified.
3) Here is a good link with more information on this topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_blood_type_theory_of_personality
4) As we stated, this is somewhat of a controversial issue, and our goal today was to introduce you this belief and thats is all. We hope that everyone understands and nobody is offended.
よろしくおねがいします。
Alexander says:
February 18th, 2006 at 6:13 am
Great work, guys. Very fun. And I’m glad to hear that there’s a new member. Welcome, Hatsumi!!! 
By the way, what happened to Kaze 1973? He was on the previous 3-4 lessons, no?
Oh, and another question: How many people are there overall working on Japanesepod101?
Thank you
Athara (athena_san) says:
February 18th, 2006 at 6:30 am
This is something I have wondered about for a long time. I for one always try to remember what type I am…simply due to my interest in medicine and I think it may come in handy during an emergency for some reason. LOL I also donate blood as much as I can. (However I can’t donate, 
as I have to wait for a year as I traveled to India) Therefore, for quite some time I thought wow Japanese people are so conscience about medicine. I read the same wiki and learned the personality significance of the blood types being like zodiac signs. I found this podcast quite interesting.
Hatsumi!!! Your voice so kawaii!!! (Japanglish) 
can we have a lesson where we can hear the difference in dialects? I’ve always wanted to know about that. Here in the US we have so many dialects, like Peter, I can tell you’re from New York. Am I right?
FYI - I have my family hooked on JP101 now! I burn the lessons on CD for my sister (she doesn’t have an Ipod) who is now interested in learning Japanese. My brother thinks this podcast is really cool as he learned some things he didn’t learn in his formal Japanese classes he took in University. Even my mum was able to repeat the words… I was shocked. 
She never showed interest in learning Japanese. I just have to get my dad and my husband into it. I myself study on my own and this podcast has helped me immensely. I just need people to talk to, to practice. 
Steve says:
February 18th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Really interesting podcast. This Blood type thing seems popular in other parts of Asia as well as Japan.
I have notice in magazines from Japan that when they interview a Japanese person, such as a pop-star or TV-star, they always mention their blood type. Peter-san, I think it is a good example to compare the Japanese interest in blood type to that of Western Horoscope.
But like Peter-san, I do not know my blood type….But I have this feeling my blood type is ‘B’. I am certain that is what my mother told me a few years ago.
Would I be right in thinking that it is mostly women that like to talk about Blood type?
Oh well…I have some free time, so I will try and add a little bit more to my website. My wife’s at work and my daughter is busy playing with ‘Play-Doh’ and I feel too lazy to go into town and pay bills…
O-genki de
Steve
Steve says:
February 18th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Athara-san.
I just want to let you know….what a great idea, I have never thought about buring the podcasts on to CD, I also do not have an ipod or any kind on mp3 player.
I think the dialects are interesting and yes, I agree Hastumi-san does have a Kawaii voice. (Natsuko-san and Sakura-san Your voices are also Kawaii 
)I would like to learn some Kyoto Dialect…but first I need to learn Standard Japanese
Oh well.
Jaa Mata
Steve
Steve says:
February 18th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Oooops! I am still here 
Athara-san. I agree with you again. Like you I am trying to teach myself Japanese and it is hard to have no one to practice on. I could call my friend in Tokyo everyday, but my phone bill will be so high. There doesn’t seem to be any Japanese people where I live But when we went shopping a couple of weeks ago there was a mother of two children and she looked Japanese and my wife said that when she heard her speak to her children it sounded Japanese. Maybe next time I see her, I will say hello to her. But I am not very confident of my Japanese ability.
Now…I reallyam going this time 
O-genki de
Steve
Peter says:
February 18th, 2006 at 7:38 am
Alexander-san, thanks for the great post! Kaze 1973, ah, he has the weekend off. Actually, we use what human resources are available on any given day. Kaze should be back soon. When we first started it was just 2, now, currently at JPod101, there are, let me see…… I don’t know for sure, as we may have added someone while I was writing this. Actually, tomorrows news report goes much more into detail about that!
Athara-san, I know the feeling! Regarding the emergency situation, again, I know the feeling! 
My philosophy, however, is that if I am in that bad shape where I need blood, I am probably bleeding, and therefore, it should be pretty easy to find out what type I am! (knock on wood!)
Lesson on dialects, we’re working on it. Many people have asked, but we want to do it right, so it will take a little while. Mou sukoshi matte kudasai. (Please wait a little longer.) New York, you got it! Actually, when I first came to Japan, my nick name was New York, as my accent was soooo thick. People would make me say coffee 10 times a day!! Much more watered down now, but hopefully it will return after a trip home.
WOW! Great story about your family! Thank you for sharing that with us, and also your blog. I checked it out, very cool! Great to hear your studying on your own, if there is anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask. As for practice……any Japanese people around that you can do an exchange with?? Please keep the posts coming! And say hi to your family for us.
Steve-san, yes in China they have this also, and I read Korea too. I may just go get a blood test to let you guys know what type I am. However, I really do hate needles. 
Hmm…..good question. Maybe. But many guys talk about it too, and seem to know it well.
Keep us updated on the site!
Nathan says:
February 18th, 2006 at 8:10 am
私はO型です。
はつみはん、
毎度！おまはんの声はごっついかわいいじゃ。
JapanesePod,
Great lesson! Welcome Hatsumi-san!
This is a really interesting topic that many Westerners aren’t usually aware of. It’s interesting when looking through profiles of Japanese musicians, actors/actresses, etc. and they always have the blood type listed. I found an interesting little site (Japanese) that gives you information about your type, and even compatibility information:
http://www.shojoji.com/blood/blood.htm
(Sakura-san, Hatsumi-san: Please note that Ｏ型男性 + Ａ型女性 = 相性度 100% )
Also, for those of you that are looking for speaking practice, there is a site called “The Mixxer” where you can find people looking for language exchange partners over Skype (a free voice chat client). There are a good number of native Japanese speakers there. Check it out:
Nathan says:
February 18th, 2006 at 8:31 am
Peter-san,
My pleasure! I believe there has actually been a few teachers in Japan who have sent their students to the site to find exchange partners, so I think that English-speakers seeking Japanese-speakers are in need there. That makes it a great opportunity for us learners!
You’re a night-owl, it seems
Alexander says:
February 18th, 2006 at 9:18 am
There are also different language exchange sites, like www.sharedtalk.com or www.unilang.com, which are really good.
Brenda says:
February 18th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Thank you for explaining about blood types. I have been wondering about this for a while!
Jessica says:
February 18th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Mmm, all of your podcasts are so fun! I’m hooked!
I’d read about blood type personalities some weeks ago when I kept noticing that it was almost always mentioned in the profiles of Japanese pop culture icons. So join in Peter - just hum a happy song and look away when they break out the needle to extract your life’s essence. I’m rather fond of the Barney tune as a good distraction.
Warm and happy “irrashaimase” to Hatsumi. All of you wa ichiban desu!
Jessica says:
February 18th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Oh right, I also did a Google search for Kyoto-ben a while ago and this page with recorded phrases turned up:
http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/kp/ojikoji/kotoba/kotoba_e.html
And the following Wikipedia article on Kansai-ben has a little information about Kyoto-ben (….like, a line of information 
) but in general some useful info about the Kansai dialect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai-ben
I hope it’s relevant to some degree.
Jessica says:
February 18th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Ah, my mistake (and last post); there actually is a formidable section on Kyoto-ben in the Wikipedia article. I hadn’t read that far into the article yet. Sorry ^_^;;
Scott says:
February 18th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
Can I start the Hatsumi fan club? With a voice like that, she will be an internet pop-idol in no time!
We could even give her cute nicknames, like はつタン.
セツ-Seth says:
February 18th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
このレッスンはいいです。
I have been in Japan for just over a year now and I am always looking for good study material and I was so stoked to find your Podcast. I wish I would have found it earlier. I am here working at an outdoor adventure camp called in Nagano-Ken. You can also check out my blog at
本当にありがとう
摂 [ セツ ]
Nathan says:
February 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
Alexander-san,
Indeed, there are quite a few sites out there. I like Unilang for its sheer diversity of languages, but the Japanese forum there is pretty quiet. The best part about the Mixxer, though, is that it is specifically geared toward spoken conversation. That’s something that a lot of us here seem to be lacking the opportunity to have.
Jessica-san,
Thanks for the links! Dialects are really interesting, and a lot of fun as well! I’m looking forward to future lessons where the crew touch on the subject Also, here’s another interesting site about Kansai-ben which includes some audio files:
http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~gemini/kansai_ben/osaka.html
Scott-san,
How about a “Girls of JapanesePod101″ fan club instead They could all be pro voice talent, without a doubt!
Seth-san,
Welcome to the JP101 site! Thanks for the link! Wow, you must be having a blast in Japan! That’s taking recreation to the max Unfortunately, your blog seems to be down. Stick around and feel free to share some stories of your time in Japan so far!
JP101 Tech Crew,
It looks like the “last HTML used” bug is hitting us again! This time it’s a URL, though, so it can make it a bit tricky to post comments Just a heads-up! Thanks for all of your hard work!
Nathan says:
February 18th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Well it seems my comment terminated the tag, so hopefully commenting can commence unhindered
Nathan says:
February 18th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
And apparently the culprit link is pointing to the correct site now, so disregard my comment about your site being down, Seth-san. On the other hand, there don’t seem to be any posts on your main site. I can go to your profile and see the posts on your other blogs, though.
Basketball, snowboarding, and laser tag… hope you’re not too bored
jay says:
February 19th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Ok so I’m a A-type monkey gemini (born in 1980, a super monkey year!!). What’s the best girl for me? haha
I heard mentioned in another jpod lesson something about the animal zodiac years.. not sure how big that is in japan wouldn’t mind knowing the names of the animals in japanese! (plus I really like animals).
And yes I don’t put any stock in horoscopes, but they are fun to hassle your friends Actually, I believe horoscopes when they say things like, “You are super-intelligent and witty and everyone loves you”. I’ll buy that
ja ne!
jay says:
February 19th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
steve-san! your first post made me remember something! All the japanese based games for the games consoles (tekken, dead or alive etc.. ) have the characters blood types in the profile.. makes way more sense now. I used to think that was a little bit TOO detailed :/
Although let’s be honest, in fighting games pretty much any info is too detailed
I also remember heihachi’s profile (he was a bit gruff evil guy) it said: “Dislikes: Nothing”. I thought that was funny. I DISLIKE NOTHING! 
bim says:
February 20th, 2006 at 6:57 am
Are “O type” blood equivalent to Leo (in horoscope) - ie dominant, arrogant etc?
Peter says:
February 20th, 2006 at 8:07 am
Brenda-san, our pleasure! I’ve been wondering too!
Jessica-san, thanks for posting! Thanks for the advice! Although……not sure if a song will do it. But as soon as I find out, everyone is sure to know!
Scott-san, 久々！ Great to hear from you!
セツさん、こちらこそ！聞いてくれましてありがとうございます！Nice blog! And very nice Kanji name! Keep the posts coming!
Nathan-san, keep up the great work!
Jay-san, interesting! Didn’t know that.
Bim-san, よろしくおねがいします！They are actually made out to be very good at many things, and always seem to win the contests on the particular TV show. I ll look into more for you! Thanks for posting!
Nate-san, great to hear from you!
Vikram Govindan says:
April 25th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Another language exchange site that maybe useful:
http://www.rockle.com/language/amigo
Everything’s free. Lots of people to learn from and TEACH…
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Monica says:
March 25th, 2008 at 5:00 am
Yay! I’m type O! haha, it’s the “type to be!” haha… this was a great culture class. I have been wanting to know about this for a long time.
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Category: Japanese Culture Classes |
Topic: blood type, superstitions
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