Quirks

So one thing I noticed after a couple of weeks of being in Japan is that the Japanese tend to have an unusual fascination with blood type.  It started with my cell phone profile where under "Birth Date" there was a "Blood Type."  Then I began to see little cell phone charms with blood types on them.

At first, I was extremely impressed.  I thought, "Hey, the Japanese are pretty diligent about their blood type. If you ever get into an accident, your blood type could be found anywhere on your person -- cell phone, key chains, etc."  However after a quick google search, I was slightly disappointed to find that blood types are just another horoscope in that there are people who believe blood type can determine personalities and compatibility.

For more information into this interesting cultural quirk, the BBC just wrote a pretty good article on it.