Obama Bows to Japan? All About Obama's Bow to the Japanese Emperor

Obama bows to Japan? I must admit, I was shocked when I heard of Obama's bow to the Japanese Emperor. So was the rest of the world. A seemingly innocent physical gesture has erupted into a controversy that has been scanning the Internet and news outlet for days. People are either outraged at Obama's actions, or they see the bow as a sign of respect. No matter how you shake it, one thing is certain: we need to figure out what the gesture really meant. Obama recently went on a week long tour of Asia. While shaking the hand of Japanese Emperor Akihito and in the presence of Empress Michiko, Obama bowed low. Critics state that the President should stand tall when representing America overseas. The video has been showed time and time again on news media outlet such as Fox News.

According to AFP, conservative pundit William Kristol said the following of the situation on Fox News Sunday: "I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one,"

On CNN, Bill Bennett said ""We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing,"

Many conservatives feel that the bow just adds to a laundry list of mistakes made by Obama in the area of foreign relations. Critics feel that Obama has been too apologetic for the United States and has taken a relaxed stance at foreign relations.

In Japan, the bow is seen as a sign of deep respect and deference to a superior. Basically, Obama acknowledged that he - and possibly the United States - is inferior to Japan and the Japanese Emperor.

A picture of Cheney with the Emperor shows how Americans would have rather seen the interaction take place. Cheney stood upright and tall. Neither Cheney - as the VICE PRESIDENT- or the Emperor - bowed. This showed that they seen each other as equals.

When I first went to college, my major was International Business. The first thing that we did in an International class was to learn about different cultures. You learned how to accept business cards, how to shake hands, what hands to shake, how to eat, when and where to sit, and how to address others. I would like to think that the President would have gotten a crash-course in appropriate actions from some aid or White House official.

Personally, I don't think that Obama meant anything by the bow. I think it was one of those situations where an inexperienced politician made a mistake in judgment in a spur of the moment decision. I don't think that Obama sees himself as inferior to the Japanese Emperor, nor do I think he feels that America is inferior to Japan. However, he needs to be more careful of his actions when representing the United States on foreign soil.

Sources:

AFP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVGYMxyEpqIynr98qF-CA9ptFp6w

LA Times Blog: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/11/obama-emperor-akihito-japan.html