WAS MICHELLE OBAMA REALLY WRONG?

Have you ever been to Japan? If you have then you should know that is considered extremely important in Japan. Basically, bows are performed with the back straight and the hands at the sides (boys and men) or clasped in the lap (girls and women), and with the eyes down. Bowing appears easy to do but when you get to Japan it’s an art! In a move to bow as it is customary in Japan, Michelle Obama  triggered an embarrassment when she stumbled as she attempts an awkward combination of curtsey, western handshake and Japanese bow when meeting Emperor Akihito in Tokyo. The question was Mrs. Obama really wrong? Yes, she attempted to act Japanese, but her western make-up posed a challenge. What appears wrong to others is right in the sight of others. In 2009, President Barack Obama caused embarrassment when he was photographed bending to nearly a 90 degree angle when he greeted the Japanese Emperor at the Imperial Palace.

 

Americans have historically had a challenge bowing in the way that a typical Japanese would. They can be pardoned since they’re not Japanese and their western background appears to preclude their perfect bowing in Japan. When an American bows in the right way, such an act looks weird.There is a lesson in this hilarious bowing saga: you can fake it but can’t flaunt it.