Vic Socotra

17 November 2009

The Bow Wow

(Japanese Emperor Hirohito Calls on General of the Army Doug MacArthur, Tokyo, 1945)

They are at it again, bow-wowing over the greeting of the President of the United States to some overseas monarch. The one to the King of Saudi Arabia still has the Right agog, the bow to a reigning Islamic Potentate, guardian of the two holiest cities of that faith really set some teeth on edge.

It is gauged as part of the great decline, or as others closer to the xBox might put it, might put it, the Big Re-Set button.

The latest flap is over the bow of the President to the Emperor of Japan.

Actually, just the words roll a little awkwardly off the tongue. There is so much baggage here, and so much that is new once more, what with the election of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DJP).

It was a crushing defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the worst for a governing party in modern Japanese history. It was only the second time the LDP has lost a general election, and was the first time since its formation that the LDP would not be the majority party.

There are many issues on the table with the new party; really significant ones. They include base relocation, nuclear umbrella, China, Korea, blah blah.

Accordingly, I have to think that the White House might have thought about what people might think when the historic American President met the living incumbent of the Chrysanthemum Throne.

I mean, at least I hope they thought about it. I know the calculus of the bow in Japan as well and anyone who has lived there. I have a pal who is a senior political advisor there, an odd place for a Cornhusker to wind up, I grant you, but he is good at what he does. He briefs Gai-jins (foreigners) all the time on how things are supposed to work and how not to give inadvertent offense.

He wrote and said that he has “given the "how to bow" gouge several times over the years.” As far as the Japanese see it, a deep bow to the Emperor is totally natural.”

I have no compunctions about bowing to Japanese people I meet. At least while in civvies. In uniform the protocol is nicely laid out by rank and long precedent. The way I have always done it is to keep my face slightly cocked so that I can gauge where the bow should stop with precision.

You want to ensure that no one goes too low, and no one loses face.

It is a big deal there. In fact, one of the most famous pictures in Japanese history is one where someone is not concerned about it at all.

The Emperor of Japan came to have a conference with General MacArthur shortly after he assumed the title of SCAP- Supreme Commander of Allied Powers and set himself up in the five-story Dai Ichi Insurance Company Building, the most impressive one left standing near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

It is a neat place to visit, and I have been in the room where the picture was taken, years after. The Japanese were very nice to let me in.

The General dictated that only one picture of the historic first meeting would be permitted, and when the meeting was done and the picture published it caused a sensation.

The General is in his duty uniform, an open shirt with no tie, towering over the little man who only a week or two before had been considered divine.

He is in most formal morning coat and tie, and is captured as submissive and meek in comparison to MacArthur. At the time of the meeting, it was uncertain as to whether the Emperor was going to be tried as a Class A war criminal, so you can imagine the signal that was sent to the Japanese people.

Anyhow, the picture of President Obama’s deep bow to the current Emperor is being viewed with a lot of interest in Japan, since it is not possible to be much more different than other recent visits of American dignitaries.

Vice President Cheney greeted Emperor Akihito with a big Wyoming handshake, no bow at all, when last they met in 2007.

My pal in Japan knows the nuance that surrounds this sort of stuff. He understands how some back here in the U.S. would be critical of the President bowing so low. He is a tall man, after all, and he is bent right over, almost at a right angle to the diminutive ceremonial head of Japan.

So here is the question: the President clearly did not have to bow that low to show respect. He could have used shallower bow and a handshake to show respect without violating anyone’s sensibilities.

So, we are left with two options. The “deep bow” could have discussed beforehand by those around the President, and a decision was made to send a clear signal to the new Japanese Government, and their people, that a new order is in place.

Or, I suppose it is possible that the people around the President didn’t have a clue, and he was just winging it, doing what he felt like.

You can call me a fossil, if you want. I know I am too hung up on the past, but honestly, I don’t know which of the two options I find more appalling.

No one said getting out of the hole we are in was going to be easy, but God, I had no idea how awful it is going to be. Maybe it will be easier to ignore the whole thing.

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