Extraordinary Ordinary Guy In Japan

The Shortest Festival

From Yahoo!Japan News.

The Enrei Onodachi commemoration festival, which is the shortest festival in Japan to which the city staffs only bow, was performed at the Shiojiri Peak of the boundary between the City of Shiojiri and Okaya, Nagano Prefecture, Oct 14.
It was started in 1948 to commemorate the visit of Emperor Meiji and Emperor Showa, and now it is also popular as an opportunity of exchange of both cities . The MC called "Bow everyone", all the members made a bow to the monument, and it finished in only 5 seconds.
There was also a time that the people argued about the border between both cities since it had not been fixed. The administration staffs who participated the event bowed and agreed each other to associate with for a long time.

I wonder how the 5 seconds bow can be called a "festival".

Here is a movie clip of the event, but its length is 2 minutes and 54 seconds (why is it necessary?) and a bit boring.

Jinx

Here are some of Japanese strange jinxes.

• If a tea stalk is floating upright in your cup of tea, something good will happen to you.
  
• If you cut your fingernails at night, you will not be able to see your parents when they die.
  
• If you whistle at night, a snake will crawl out to you.
  
• If you lie down soon after you eat, you will become a cow.
  
• If you find a spider at morning, do not kill it because it is a good sign.
  
• If you pour piss on an earthworm, your penis will swell up.
  
• Never sleep with your head directed towards North. Only dead bodies can be done so.
  
• Do not start wearing your new shoes in the afternoon.
  
• When you eat seasonal food at the first of the season, you should face to East and laugh.
  
• If you put a piece of snake skin into your wallet, you will become rich.
  
• When your milk tooth come out, if it was a lower tooth, throw it over the roof. If it was an upper tooth, throw it beneath the veranda. Then your next tooth will be strong.
  
• When you get nervous in front of people, you should write the letter 'HITO' (human) on your palm and drink the letter through your mouth.

Blood Thirsty People

Probably, there is no other people like Japanese who are interested in blood type. Many Japanese believe in a relation between a person's blood type and his/her personality, like they believe in horoscope. For example...

"If you have O-type blood, you always express your feeling straight and you have rich facial expression."
"If you have A-type blood, you are introspective, cooperative, and you always take care of the others."
"If you have B-type blood, you are aggressive and do everything without a preconceived idea."
"If you have AB-type blood, you have a rational view and you can make good relationship with everyone else."
"If you are a woman who has AB-type blood, an A-type man makes the best match with you, but an O-type man is worst nightmare..."
"You have a character that is suitable for B-type blood, but mine is not A-type-like..."

People always have such conversations. There were even some companies which employed only persons who had a certain blood-type. (Perhaps, that system must have been abolished.) Psychologist TAKEJI FURUKAWA pointed out the relationship of blood-type and personality on his book published in 1932. Although FURUKAWA's opinion had been forgotten for long, writer MASAHIKO NOMI spread the character judging by blood type with his several books in the 1970s. The NOMI's books based on the theory of FURUKAWA. Now blood-type has been featured in various media.
(Though the most general "ABO classification" is frequently referenced, the other classification like "Rh classification" are seldom mentioned. )

However, the relationship between blood type and personality has not been proved scientifically. The people who affirm the theory always assert that the theory was based on the result of statistics. But, it may be already impossible to get completely fair statistics about blood type in present Japan. Because the belief of the theory is spread too much among the people, the result of investigation will have a bias.

I personally think that our personality must not be related to our blood type. It is foolish that people are going to bring their characters close to suitable for their blood types.
Are you cooperative? Are you aggressive? Do you have rich facial expression?
How can we judge such matters about ourselves? Or are these matters should be judged by others? And should they be called "personality"?
I don't feel like concluding my or others' character too easily. That is probably because I have A-type blood and am introspective...