Pic of the day: Obama Bows to Emperor Akihito
Written By: Lisa Nakamura on -
Nov
18
2009
Posted in : Japan Photos
All you Japanamanias, what do you think of Obama’s shot at Japanese bowing etiquette? Is he bowing too high, too low? Obama bows to Emperor Akihito upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo over the weekend. The Imperial Household Agency says the U.S. President enjoyed a lunch with the emperor and Empress Michiko. Obama is currently on his first presidential visit to Asia, and has coined himself as “America’s first Pacific president,” promising the nations of Asia “a new era of engagement with the world based on mutual interests and mutual respect.”
**Photo Source: Japantoday.com
View Obama’s speech in Japan - there’s an ad at the beginning of the video. . . sorry guys, can’t take it out.
Enjoy this article ? Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Meh, his etiquette may have been off, but the same can be said for pretty well every US President in history. What it really comes down to is a President that has a basic (albeit unrefined) understanding of the culture and a political opposition back at home that will criticize anything. And I mean anything. Anybody remember the “dijon mustard incident”? Oh no!
Japanese bowing etiquette??? !! Are you kidding~ ! Everyone it seems has been jumping on the Obama band wagon! But also many know his front and the dirty game the US gov’t has been playing to convince us with this guy! Do you all forget about Hiroshima and Nagasaki!! If he(Obama ) is our new hero the new inspiration~ Why didnt he visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki!! Many people in Japan as well as gov’t officials had asked him to pay a visit! Shame!
Obama’s etiquette is quite an improvement over that of the first Bush’s. At least he didn’t toss his cookies on the Emperors shoes. But versions of this photo that weren’t so closely cropped shows that Obama was actually mooning Hatoyama who was standing right behind him.
Lisa,
I have searched and searched and cannot find a way to email you privately, so I hope you pre-moderate this blog. My name is Michael Gariepy and I was hoping to chat with you briefly about a documentary we are in pre-production on. Could you email me so I can give you some details / ask you some quick questions?
Thanks
~M