So basically he says that the bowing itself is okay, Obama just performed it wrong in this photo. Sounds similar to going overboard with a handshake and shaking the person’s entire body. Good intentions, bad execution. No big deal and certainly nothing sinister like the “right” seems to think.
(but I would disagree with him on the Merkel comparison, that was not a mutual greeting as this photo was, that was inappropriate sneak-up-from-behind touching)

I agree, definitely not a three pointer but Obama’s a quick learner,
This pic takes me back to the question of why The Emperor didn’t get the same treatment as other defeated axis leaders.
‘Benedict played a major role in grasping the place of the Emperor of Japan in Japanese popular culture, and formulating the recommendation to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that permitting continuation of the Emperor’s reign had to be part of the eventual surrender offer.’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chrysanthemum_and_the_Sword
Following this recommendation was the wisest decision the US occupation forces made in Japan

The myriad nuances of the Japanese bowing tradition is not something that can be learned overnight. It probably would have been wisest for Obama to stick with a conventional Western style greeting but in the event he was going to bow, someone familiar with the correct protocol (perhaps a member of the embassy staff) should have tutored him first.
Not that it matters, I’m certain the emperor accepted it graciously, as Queen Elizabeth did when Michelle committed the cardinal breach of placing a hand on her back.

Some royal traditions are being dropped by the British. Ten years ago at Wimbledon the women players exited together to curtsy (the men bowed) to the Royal Box. A Duchess who attends the British Lions Rugby Games in an official capacity behaves very much like a ‘commoner’ as far as I can tell.

Because the Emperor is an adult, I’m quite certain he didn’t judge the President’s bow harshly, any more than the President would have judged a fumbled handshake from any foreign leader.
It takes the juveniles on the right to make it a big deal, and as they’re quite comfortable with the banty-rooster posturing which passed for diplomacy for the eight loooonnnggg years which preceded this one, their opinion counts just slightly less than a bucket of piss.

An amusing defense of why he was right to bow – http://winstonscat.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-was-right-to-bow.html

Imagine showing respect to a revered national leader in the country’s own custom.
…Shocking the depravity to which this man will sink.

On second thought…I think O may just see a quarter on the ground.

From what little I know, the bow should have been hands at the side, head lower than the Emperor’s, eyes looking slightly up. The handshake at the same time is awkward and wrong. It could occur but probably afterwards.
Bowing at the same time at shaking the Emperor’s hand is the politeness overkill that Obama has exhibited since his election. He’s a consensus politician to the bone and tries to please everybody. Someday he might have to make a decision that pleases no one.

First of all, I have to comment that I certainly hope that Tapper’s academic acquaintance is not actually teaching anyone, as his or her analysis shows more than a little ignorance of contemporary Japanese society in its interaction with the West, and Japanese attitudes towards non-Japanese. The admittedly awkward-looking handshake/bow combo not a faux pas among Japanese because, obviously, Obama is not Japanese. Anyone who has actually spent time living and working (outside of a university) in Japan soon learns that there are essentially two sets of rules for nearly all aspects of Japanese society and etiquette. There are the Japanese rules for Japanese, and then there are the Japanese rules for everyone else. To the Japanese, westerners are not supposed to know all of the intricate unwritten rules that govern even everyday life in Japan (women go to classes to learn how to properly wear a kimono, for God’s sake), so the fact that Obama even bowed, albeit perhaps inexpertly, is viewed much differently in Japan than I think many people realize.
Most Japanese believe that Japan is a homogenous, unique, special, and yes, inscrutable society and culture that can not really be understood by non-Japanese. So Obama, from the view of many Japanese, not only gets a pass on not giving a perfect bow, he gets extra points for trying. This one photograph probably has done more to repair the past few decades of drift in Japanese-US relations than dozens of high-level formal meetings. To the Japanese on the street, here is a political leader who not only is tacitly acknowledging Japan’s importance to the US politically, but he is also acknowledging Japan’s feelings of cultural uniqueness by bowing. I can’t stress this enough – the fact that Obama’s bow was “wrong” and looked awkward has probably elevated his status in the eyes of the Japanese public. No – not probably. Definitely. I laughed out loud when I first saw the photo. Not because I felt it was wrong or silly, but because I knew what the Japanese reaction would be. Obama’s imperfect bow could not have been more perfect.
As for “proper” bowing, let’s that a look at Nixon in the photo linked in the ABC article. It’s a nice proper bow. And Nixon is being a prick by Japanese standards. As head-of-state to head-of-state, all things being equal, Nixon should have deferred, by bowing slightly more lower than the emperor, simply because the emperor was older than him. (I won’t go into the complexities of that fact that Nixon, being a Pacific War veteran, should have also shown more deference because he was the now the “conqueror” – I told you that Japanese society and etiquette is kind of difficult).
Note to gmoke – yes on most points. However, you are not supposed to look up at all, although most Japanese do. What they are doing is checking to see that they are bowing appropriately – they don’t want to bow too low if the other person is a subordinate or such, and they don’t want to insult others by not bowing low enough. That’s why more informal meetings, where at first you’re not sure who the other person is in relation to you, results in several bobbings up and down until each participant gets their bearings on the proper depth of their bow. When it comes to the emperor, there’s no need to check. He ain’t gonna bow lower than you.