[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/16/vlad.jpg caption="Amanpour Intern, Vladimir Duthiers"]
By Vladimir Duthiers, Amanpour Intern
Many in the media have focused on President Obama’s recent photo-op taken with Emperor Akihito of Japan. It shows Obama waist deep in Ojigi – the act of bending the waist and the head at a 15 degree angle as a social gesture. AKA – bowing. The White House says the President was simply following protocol but to many in the United States, his actions seem to clash with America’s egalitarian origins.
Speaking to John King on CNN’s State of the Union, conservative commentator William Bennet called Obama’s gesture “ugly”, saying, “We don't defer to emperors.”
Over the course of an eighteen year career in global finance, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan many times. During these visits, I was always struck by the fact that my American colleagues never bowed to our Japanese clients and business associates, even if they were bowing to us. As a long time student of the Japanese martial arts, I knew that in Japanese culture, bowing is simply a traditional way to show respect to another person before you start to try and bash their brains in with a well timed punch, roundhouse kick or, a bamboo sword called shinai.
My colleagues in the financial industry considered me a groveller of epic proportions and would good naturedly mock my kowtowing. But I wasn’t trying to please them. I was trying to develop and grow a business operation. This simple act of tradition and humility, of trying to show some interest and appreciation for a culture very different from my own, endeared me to many a sararīman and ultimately led to some very successful business deals.
According to Dave Lowry, a martial artist and author of books on Japan, the bow was formalized initially during the Muromachi age (1334-1573). In his book “In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts”, Lowry writes, “The act of bowing conveys feelings and attitudes that cannot be demonstrated with a handshake or some other form of greeting.” Furthermore, he says there are no overtones of worship associated with the bow in Japan. “It’s just the way you behave,” he writes.
Clearly though, dealings with business people are very different from the interactions between heads of state and members of the diplomatic corps.
Reflecting back on the origins of the United States, in Part II of his biography of John Adams, David McCullough reprints letters sent to Adams by his friend and fellow founding father Benjamin Rush.
On the eve of Adam’s voyage to France on a diplomatic mission to secure assistance in the war against England, Rush writes, “I am aware that your abilities for firmness are much wanted at the Court of France, and after all that has been said of the advantages of dressing, powdering and bowing well as necessary accomplishments for an ambassador.”
The question now is whether 21st century Americans are willing to give President Obama the same leeway as he seeks to represent the United States overseas and advance the U.S. national interest.