Obama's critics should be bowing their heads

To most reasonable people, it was a well-intentioned show of respect to a head of state who greeted his guest on the steps of his home before ushering him inside for lunch.

But Barack Obama's greeting to Japan's emperor, Akihito, at the weekend has worked the American right into a lather over what they see as their president's unseemly deference to a symbol of hereditary power.

The outrage was initially confined to commentators such as William Kristol, who, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, wondered "why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan."

Now no less a figure than Dick Cheney has waded in. "There is no need for an American president to bow to anyone," the former vice-president told the politico.com website.

By contrast, when Cheney met Akihito, he restricted the niceties to a stiff-backed handshake … but then Cheney is all charm.

Sean Hannity at Fox News claimed the Japanese were "mortified" by the addition of a handshake to the traditional greeting.

They were nothing of the sort: the handshake, though not strictly necessary, has crept into bowing etiquette, particularly in international business and politics. What better way to illustrate the meeting of two cultures?

Far from embarrassment, there is consternation here that some Americans should be so incensed by their president's impeccable manners. If anyone was belittled it was Akihito, who stands eight inches shorter than the 6ft 1in Obama.

Etiquette experts in Japan have praised the president's efforts, while an Imperial Household Agency spokesman said the greeting looked "natural and appropriate".

At the very least it was an improvement on the cringeworthy efforts of celebrities, Madonna included, who greet their Japanese fans with a nod of the head, palms pressed together in prayer. Sorry, Madge … wrong country.

But the vitriol continues.

In his LA Times blog titled, "How low will he go?" Andrew Malcolm called Obama "undignified" and his behaviour deeply misguided in the presence of a man whose father occupied the chrysanthemum throne when Japan and the US were at war.

Stephen Colbert exploited the bow's rich comic potential with a reference to George Bush Snr's "greeting" to his Japanese counterpart Kiichi Miyazawa in 1992: a lapful of vomit.

The conservative pundit Bill Bennett told CNN: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it. We don't defer to emperors."

Which is fine, because Obama wasn't deferring to anyone.

The angle and length of a bow in Japan depends on who is bowing to whom. Etiquette demands that a 90-degree bow should be reserved for such occasions as meeting the emperor or another VIP, or as a sincere expression of apology or regret.

Context is everything. I have seen teachers perform an "Obama" in front of graduating pupils, and departing senior editors practically kiss their kneecaps before a newsroom of lowly hacks. Deference, or simple gratitude and civility?

The Obama administration has stepped in to defend the president. "I think that those who try to politicise those things are just way, way, way off base," an unnamed official said.

The state department, meanwhile, attempted to clear up any confusion over how Americans should behave abroad.

Thanks to their ignorance, Cheney, Kristol et al now owe Obama an apology. A perfectly executed dogeza, foreheads pressed to the ground, would be a good start.