The George H.W. Bush vomiting incident occurred on January 8, 1992 around 8:20 p.m. JST when U.S. President George H.W. Bush fainted after vomiting into the lap of the then Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa.[1]
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The dinner itself was a state event for some 135 diplomats held at the home of the Prime Minister. The event came near the end of the President's 12-day trade-oriented trip through Asia.
The incident happened the evening of a doubles game of a tennis match:
Bush got sick at the dinner after playing a brutal tennis match with the Emperor of Japan, who along with his son, the Crown Prince, to use a Texas term, kicked George Bush's butt on the court. George senior is a pretty competitive guy and almost killed himself trying to cover for his lousy doubles partner, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan....—Peter McKillop, Time Asia[2]
The incident was widely reported.[1] Like the Jimmy Carter rabbit incident that preceded it and the George W. Bush pretzel incident and shoe-throwing incident that followed it, the incident quickly became fodder for the nation's comedians. Footage of the President vomiting was broadcast on the ABC network.
Several years later, Bush was best remembered in Japan for this event.[2] According the Encyclopedia of political communication, "The incident caused a wave of late night television jokes and ridicule in the international community, even coining Bushu-suru which literally means 'to do the Bush thing'."[3]
In January 2001, on the eve of the inauguration of George W. Bush, a writer noted the stark disparity between the lives of Bush Sr. ("Poppy") and Miyazawa, incidentally comparing the vomiting incident with Japan's "sick" economy:
It's been about a decade since this loopy incident, and Poppy is happily being an ex-President. He spends his time parachuting, playing tennis, and, until November, helping his son become America's 43rd President. He is doing what all sane 70-plus men would like to do: taking it easy, dabbling a bit to keep the mind sharp, but basically, enjoying the golden years that come with the spoils of success. Not poor Kiichi Miyazawa. Ten years on, Japan's economy is so sick that Miyazawa is still being forced to be the nation's Finance Minister. While Bush is enjoying the sun, Kiichi has to go into the office every day and has to struggle with some of the most intractable economic problems a democracy has faced since the Great Depression.—Peter McKillop, Time Asia.[2]
According to USA Today, the incident was one of the top "25 memorable public meltdowns that had us talking and laughing or cringing over the past quarter-century."[4] At the time of the USA Today story, the Wall Street Journal felt the need to "cheer", by comparison, for "Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle and George W. Bush ...for their maturity and self-control."[5]
To this day, to vomit in public is "to do a Bush" or Bushu-suru in colloquial Japanese."[3][4] In current American slang, phrases such as "bush bomber mission over Tokyo", "bushusuru", and "to do a bush" are slang terms for vomiting, especially when referred to actions done in public.[6] There are some reports that Bushu-suru has become, in polite society, a euphemism for vomiting.[7]
Bush's upchucking made him a "notable victim" of a norovirus.[8] The Houston Chronicle in 2008 said it was the "Number one travel blunder," and "Who could forget" it.[9] In 2006, The Denver Post compared it to Cheney shooting a friend in the face.[10] BBC gave significant coverage in 2003.[11] Time Asia wrote that the Bush Sr. was "best remembered in Japan for barfing (vomiting) in the lap of the then-Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa during a state dinner."[2]
A satiric play featuring the incident,[12] and an art exhibit with an image of it was reviewed in 2000.[13] In 2000, the New York Times said Bush Sr's presidency was discredited by "bad syntax, pandering to the religious right, vomiting on unsuspecting Japanese."[14]
Author Michael Crichton credited the incident with boosting the popularity of his novel Rising Sun, which dealt with Japanese-US relations.[15]
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