Etiquette Expert: Obamas bow to Japan’s emperor shows breach in protocol
November 22, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under etiquette, international, obama
The Etiquette Expert debuted her new updated blog. A great read for those of us looking for etiquette tips in business, technology, and general manners. Check out her recent blog on the much-hyped bow of President Obama’s bow to the Japanese emperor.
President Obama’s bow to Japan’s emperor shows breach in protocol.
Let’s set the record straight once and for all. Protocol dictates that a chief of state should not…I repeat, should not bow to another chief of state. President Obama did indeed commit a presidential gaffe when he bowed to Japan’s Emperor, Akihito during his visit to Japan last weekend.
Only Emperor Akihito’s subjects are required to bow to him. In contrast, when the President visited Queen Elizabeth II earlier this year, he did not bow to her. “The bow was a simple show of respect,” the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday in a response to critics (like me) who decried the move. Experts in Japanese etiquette have even praised it as an appropriate show of respect.
