Photo/Illutration A seated Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before the start of a session at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Handshakes are important to politicians as they tend to shake hands with a lot of people. Very occasionally, this happens an incredible number of times.

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), whose tenure began in 1901, reportedly shook hands with 8,513 people in a single day--apparently a world record for a head of state.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalls in her recently published memoires how U.S. President Donald Trump refused to reciprocate when she extended her hand to him in greeting. That was at the start of their first meeting in the White House in 2017, when photographers clamored for a shot of them shaking hands.

Merkel makes no bones about her displeasure at being snubbed by Trump, pointing out that he treated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe much more graciously by shaking hands “for an entire 19 seconds.”

And she regrets having forgotten what sort of man Trump was when she asked him quietly for a handshake.

She recalls to the effect that she made the mistake of treating him as a decent person, when all he was interested in was being the center of attention.

Speaking of handshakes, I once heard from a Japanese diplomat about the foreign minister of a certain country, whose habit, right after shaking someone’s hand, is to give the other person a sudden tug. This causes the other person to reflexively lean forward, as if in the act of bowing, which makes the minister look bigger. And that is the moment the photographers were meant to capture.

Along with such a sly trick, diplomacy appears to be not only about backroom dealings in the name of national interest, but also a kind of publicity stunt that politicians pull to show the public.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba extended both hands when Chinese President Xi Jinping proffered only one hand. And with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ishiba stayed seated while shaking hands, which many people thought was rude.

Let’s not say it’s only a handshake. It’s part of any politician’s skill set, so it had better be handled carefully.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 30

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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