Obama´s bow in Japan subject of controversy by Zuzana Zelenakova

President Obama´s first official visit to the Land of the Rising Sun got much greater press coverage than he would wish. And what is this fuss all about? One bow US President made while shaking hands with Japanese Emperor Akihito before entering the palace. The move Barrack Obama surely meant as a sign of respect for the country he was visiting and its traditions have incensed critics in Washington. "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," said William Kristol, conservative political analyst and commentator. "I'll bet if you! look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow." This only contributed to the idea among President´s critics that he has acted in an exceedingly deferential way in his dealings with other heads of the countries and thus has diminished the position of the US as superpower. Fortunately for US President, there were also those who showed understanding and apprehension. "I think it's a gesture of kindness," said Democratic activist Donna Brazile adding that it was Obama´s way of confirming "goodwill between two nations that respect each other." When it comes to the Japanese media mostly they have avoided referring to the incident. However, numerous comments appeared on various Japanese Internet sites and they were quite opposite to the American reactions. Experts on protocol and etiquette in the US argument that Japanese habits are very complex and a bow can have many meanings. The way one bows determines the meaning and a! deep bow when eyes face the floor is considered as an act of ! submissi on, excessive respect. Obama´s bow to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in April provoked similar reactions.

related story (sgx15931): http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091116/pl_afp/japanusdiplomacy...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.