This article explores the military significance of salutes, focusing on why a left-hand salute is considered improper or even insulting. Prompted by Masayuki Takayama’s writing, it examines the historical and organizational meaning behind military etiquette.

April 23, 2016
Unlike Masayuki Takayama, I have lived my life as a businessman, so it is only natural that I do not possess the breadth of knowledge that he does.
Takayama, who has lived his life as a journalist, is admirable precisely because he possesses the extensive knowledge that a journalist ought naturally to have.
His erudition is so exceptional that it would not be an exaggeration to say he is without equal in the postwar world, which makes him all the more admirable.
We Japanese should be grateful, as citizens of Japan, that he has existed among us.
Now then, although this may be knowledge at the kindergarten level for him, there was something in the previous chapter’s essay that I did not know.
It was the matter of Xi Jinping having shockingly performed a salute with his left hand at the recent military parade.
So I searched for information.
“Neither the navy nor the army permits left-handedness at all.
Swords and firearms are all made for right-handed use.
Naturally, salutes are performed with the right hand, and if one were to salute with the left hand, it would be taken as an insult to the other party, resulting in punishment severe enough to twist one’s face.”
Or:
“A salute is a matter of etiquette.
If it cannot be performed according to proper form, it becomes discourteous, and saluting with the left hand is a disgrace to the individual and, at the same time, a disgrace to the leader of that organization in terms of guidance and education.
However, ceremonial forms differ by organization.
The commands and movements used when standing in formation for inspections differ between the Self-Defense Forces and the police.
Even among salutes, some organizations show the palm while others do not.
I have also heard that even within the navy, submarines keep their arms close to the body when saluting due to confined spaces.
The “about-face” movement usually consists of three motions, but SECOM teaches it in two motions.
If you were to salute a member of another organization with your left hand, the other person would likely think no more than, “That’s an unusual salute,” or “Is morale low?”
On the other hand, if you were to salute your superior within the same organization in such a manner, you would certainly be retrained.
The salute in which the right hand is raised to the right side of the visor originates, according to one theory, from the era in Europe when knights were the main fighting force.
They released their hand from the sword hilt on the left side and lifted the visor of their helmet to show that they had no hostile intent.
The Nazi salute, in which the right hand is raised high, was adopted following Mussolini, who himself admired the ancient Roman Empire and incorporated what he believed to be its salute.
Ceremonial forms have meaning.
If one understands that meaning, one can see why failing to perform them properly constitutes discourtesy.
It would be good if we could learn to understand not only the surface of things, but also their “meaning,” in everything we do.
That is what I found.