An expert on Japanese politics offered a memorable phrase when I asked her why Kishida Fumio recently became the nation’s prime minister.
“People who do not bow are not appreciated as leaders,” said Keiko Iizuka, a political writer at The Yomiuri Shimbun and lead commentator for the nightly news program News in Depth (Shinso News).
Kishida, she explained, took his bowing seriously, lowering his head before influential politicians and organization leaders. He told them that if they supported his bid for high office, he would become their humble servant.