Setsubun is a Japanese holiday that takes place on Feb 3rd, the day before the start of Spring on the old Japanese calendar. It’s not a national holiday, but almost everyone celebrates it. It has some fun traditions that go along with it, particularly one called mamemaki.
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One of the stranger things Japan obsesses over is blood-types. It is not uncommon to be asked your blood-type when you meet someone for the first time, when you apply for a job, when you enter school, even when you fill out a simple form for whatever. Actor bios include blood-type, sports stars stat-sheets include their blood-type, even toy action figures come with a blood-type for the character. There are TV dramas about women seeking husbands based on their blood-types, and their are actual dating networks which are based on this idea; video games usually include blood-type when you select a character to play as; even some women’s fashion is geared to blood-type: buy this bag is you are an O, this if you are an A, etc.
According this this article, children are commonly divided up into groups based on blood-type in school, and the softball team that won the gold at the Olympics customized training for each player based on blood-type.
Weird, huh?
I suspect most Americans don’t even know their blood-type. Maybe people who have had a major surgery do, or people who donate blood, but most don’t know and don’t really care. Also, those who do know likely wouldn’t be thrilled with giving out the info every two seconds. I’m sure there would be a lawsuit there sooner or later.
So what’s the big deal? Well, see, blood-types here are a bit like the Western Zodiac for us. They supposedly revel ones personality. Type A is super-organized, clean, uptight; Type AB is mysterious, a bit of a rebel; Type B is always happy and cheerful; Type O is outgoing, but stubborn. Go look at wikipedia for more info if you are curious.
The thing is, while only weirdos and hippies follow the Western Zodiac — or believe it, at any rate — just about everyone here follows and believes in blood-types. Even the leaders of the country are into it, giving out their blood-types when they are elected for TV pundants and newspaper writers to talk about.
Evidently the whole thing can be traced back to the Nazis. Their whole thing with genetics was adopted by the Japanese. It disappeared after the war, but the idea resurfaced again in the 70s when some quack wrote a book on it. The book had no science to back it up — in fact, scientists all over the country attacked the book for its stupidity — but became a surprising hit anyways and the rest is history.
Aso is an A, by the way. As are most Japanese. Draw your own conclusions.
A listing of the types, along with short description. What type are you??
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