Free Republic

Japan's new emperor has yet to ascend the throne, but he already has his first foreign guest lined up: United States President Donald Trump. Current Emperor Akihito, 85, will step down at the end of this month, becoming the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in modern history. He will be replaced by his 59-year-old son, Crown Prince Naruhito. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will pay a state visit to Japan in late May, becoming Naruhito's first official foreign guest, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a press release Friday. Trump's trip will be the first state visit...

Japan’s much admired Emperor Akihito plans to abdicate on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such abdication from the Chrysanthemum Throne in about 200 years, the government said Friday. Akihito’s elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, on May 1, 2019, beginning a new as yet unnamed era. The decision was made Friday at a meeting of the Imperial House Council, which included politicians, judicial officials and imperial family members. Akihito expressed his apparent wish to abdicate in 2016, citing his age and health. Formal Cabinet approval of the decision is due...

TOKYO — Japanese Emperor Akihito's oldest grandchild, Princess Mako, says she is getting married to her university classmate who won her heart with bright smiles and sincerity. Mako and her fiancé Kei Komuro told a joint news conference Sunday their relationship started when Mako sat behind him at a campus meeting five years ago at Tokyo's International Christian University, where they graduated from. Palace officials say their wedding is expected next year. Mako says she fell in love with his "smiles like the sun," sincerity and a big heart. Mako's 83-year-old grandfather, Emperor Akihito, is expected to abdicate in late...

Japan’s Emperor Akihito has expressed his intention to retire and relinquish his title in the next few years, the country’s public television said Wednesday. NHK said the 82-year-old Akihito did not wish to remain emperor if he had to reduce his official duties. […] It was not known if he had a timeline to relinquish his title to Crown Prince Naruhito. …

Donald Trump would consider allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals instead of depending on the U.S. for their protection against North Korea and China, he said in an interview with The New York Times published Saturday. “There’ll be a point at which we’re just not going to be able to do it anymore,” Trump said, pointing at what he calls a “severely depleted” military. “We have nuclear arsenals which are in very terrible shape,” he said. “They don’t even know if they work.” “If the United States keeps on its path, its current path of...

Japanese Emperor Akihito Saturday expressed "deep remorse" for his country's role in World War II, 70 years to the day following Japan's surrender to the Allies. Akihito makes a highly ritualized comment on this anniversary day every year, but this this is first year featuring such a statement. Akihito was born in 1933, and has reigned since 1989. He is the son of Hirohito, who was the reigning emperor during the war. Though the emperor's formal powers were degraded in the settlement with the Allied Powers, Hirohito was allowed to retain his throne in a largely ceremonial fashion, and famously...

US admiral defends Obama's Japan bow (AFP) – 1 day ago WASHINGTON — The former top commander of US troops in Asia on Thursday strongly defended President Barack Obama against critics of his bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito, calling it a gesture of respect. Admiral Timothy Keating, who retired last month ...

By now you have most likely heard the news of President Barack Obama breaking protocol and bowing before the Japanese Emperor Akihito. This is something that U.S. Presidents do not do. It is something that Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Kings of other countries do not do. So why he did it remains a mystery. White house aides say Obama was simply following protocol; however, this is not protocol. It was not a simple bow to show respect, which would require a very slight tilt of the upper body. Instead, Barack Obama who stands 6' 2" practically bowed parallel to the...

Dick Cheney is blasting Barack Obama for plunging the presidency to a new low - by bowing to the Japanese emperor. The White House deemed the weekend gesture a sign of respect. But Cheney chided it was downright wimpy. "There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone," Cheney complained to the Politico.com. "Our friends and allies don't expect it, and our enemies see it as a sign of weakness." Maybe Cheney would prefer if Obama and Emperor Akihito had simply walked hand-in-hand, as former President George W. Bush did with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2005...

Nov200916 admin Comments Obama Says He Did Not Bow to Japanese Emperor, Shoe Teleprompter Was Malfunctioning As controversy spread of the “bow” heard round the world, President Obama sheepishly admitted in a Chinese press conference that his apparent subservient bow to Emperor Akihito was actually just an attempt for him to get a closer look at his malfunctioning shoe teleprompter. “I’m tired of hearing all of the speculation about the bow,” said Obama. “So I’m just going to come clean and admit the truth. And the truth is that my staff provided me with a high tech teleprompter that...

One might think he had learned his lesson back in April after his greeting to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia created such a brouhaha. But one would be wrong. President Obama is at it again, showing his subservient colors, as he bows to Japan’s Emperor Akihito. We’ve been told, ad nauseum, that President Obama is a brilliant man, equal to any situation, attentive to nuances so subtle only he could distinguish them (akin to the way a dog can hear things that we mere humans can’t.) And yet here he goes again, presenting himself (and by extension, his nation) as...

It didn’t take too long for the Left to defend Barack Obama’s bow to Emperor Akihito yesterday by claiming that the President was merely showing cultural sensitivity to the Japanese emperor by deeply bowing. There’s a couple of problems with that argument. First, American Presidents do not bow to monarchs, or at least they didn’t through the first 43 Presidents and the 220 years they served as the US head of state. Perhaps a few of them might have done so out of cultural sensitivity when traveling to foreign nations as private citizens, either before or after their terms in...

President Obama has been branded the ‘Groveller-in-Chief’ after giving an exaggerated bow to Japan’s emperor Akihito - the son of the ruler who authorised the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Coming so soon after Remembrance Day, the deep bow caused an outcry in the U.S. While it was seen as a sign of respect in Japan, Mr Obama was attacked in America for ‘bowing and scraping’ to a foreign leader, particularly a Japanese one. Wartime scars are still raw for many Americans. The 6ft 2in President’s mark of deference to the 5ft 5in emperor in Japan on Saturday dominated discussion...

(UPDATES: 12:22 p.m. A brief news video has been added below, showing the greeting in this photograph. Contrary to some claims, the video shows no reciprocal bow by the emperor, who traditionally bows to no one. And we've added a file photo from 2007 of Vice President Dick Cheney greeting the Japanese Emperor at the same residence in a different fashion.) How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty? This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention...

President Barack Obama has bowed to royalty, with a greeting for the Japanese emperor that erases any doubts about what the president's posture was -- remember that bow to the Saudi king that was not really a bow? And some people are falling over backwards today. Our colleague, Andrew Malcolm, at Top of the Ticket, muses on the president's meeting with Japanese Emperor Akihito today, and suffice it to say that the article will light a brush fire of commentary stoked by the hot winds of the Drudge Report's headline. See the Ticket's report there or read it here: (And...

Standing at over six foot in height, Barack Obama had to bow deeply as he paid his respects to the diminutive Japanese Emperor Akihito. But the comical sight, which saw the President bend almost double, will no doubt earn him nods of approval in Japan, where a low bow is a sign of great respect and deference. Obama met the emperor and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace today, a stop on his nine-day Asian tour that will also see him take in Singapore and China.

Here’s a rare Saturday OOTD for Hot Air readers, but this one can’t wait for Monday. Andrew Malcolm reports on Barack Obama’s latest breach of protocol, this time with Emperor Akihito of Japan "This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in its downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference for a superior."

How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty? This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in its downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference for a superior. To some in the United States, however, an upright handshake might have looked better. Remember Michelle Obama casually patting Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the back during their Buckingham Palace visit? America's royalty tends to make movies...