Tokyo: In Japan, "What's your type?" is much more than small talk - it can be a paramount question in everything from matchmaking to getting a job.
By type, the Japanese mean blood type, and no amount of scientific debunking can kill a widely held notion that blood tells all.
In the year just ended, four of Japan's top 10 best-sellers were about how blood type determines personality, according to Japan's largest book distributor, Tohan Co.
Bungeisha, publisher of a series of books - one each for types B, O, A, and AB - has combined sales of well over 5 million copies.
Taku Kabeya, chief editor at Bungeisha, thinks the appeal comes from having one's self-image confirmed.
As defined by the books, type As are sensitive perfectionists but overanxious, Type Bs are cheerful but eccentric and selfish, Os are curious, generous but stubborn, and ABs are arty but mysterious and unpredictable.
All that may sound like a horoscope, but the public doesn't seem to care.
Even Prime Minister Taro Aso seems to consider it important enough to reveal in his official profile on the Web. He's an A. His rival, opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, is a B.
Nowadays, blood type features in a Nintendo DS game and on "lucky bags: of women's accessories tailored to blood type.
