But…but…even the Japanese think Obama’s bow was inappropriate.

President Barack Obama’s deep bow to Japan’s emperor has been castigated by US critics as kowtowing to a foreign leader, but experts in Japanese etiquette praised it as an appropriate show of respect. [...]

While some conservative commentators on US talk shows charged that the gesture bespoke a United States that had become weak and overly-deferential under Obama, Japanese media took a more positive view.

“If Obama simply walked up to the emperor and shook hands as he stood tall, he would have looked very arrogant to us,” said a Japanese presenter with Nippon Television.

Mami Matsuda, an expert in Japanese etiquette who has written many books on the subject, said Obama seemed to show his affinity to Japan with his bow.

Why does Obama hate America?