Koizumi Rocks out, sort ofJune 30th, 2006 by Adamu |
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Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went to Graceland with Bush today. The visit was described on NPR as a “gift” to the Prime Minister in appreciation of his unwavering support for the US.
Well, Koizumi must have liked it, because he was about as animated as he gets today – he even broke into song briefly, a move that clearly creeped out the president a little bit. Perhaps it was the PM’s choice of words – “Wise men say only fools rush in” – could this have been a subtle barb at Bush’s pre-emptive war doctrine?
You can watch Koizumi sing here on the UK’s Channel 4 along with some other little tidbits about Japan and Britain’s Elvis-mania.
UPDATE: NYT has more singing! Plus anti-whaling Elvis impersonaters!
June 30th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
You know Mike Green is kicking himself for not sticking around long enough for this!
June 30th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
[...] NOTE TO CHEONG WA DAE STAFF: When President Roh goes to Washington to meet with Bush in September, make sure he doesn’t try this. [...]
July 1st, 2006 at 11:54 am
Good to find your comments. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who caught the subtle “dig” in the prime minister’s choice of lyrics when the president appeared to be condecendingly attempting to stifle the Japanese enthusiasm.
Of course, if “you can’t stand the eerieness, stay out of the mansion.” – RcA
July 1st, 2006 at 1:06 pm
If I am a millionaire, I want to make this photograph & movie deleted from all media of
all parts of the world. It is too nerdy.
July 2nd, 2006 at 7:13 am
Masaco, do you hate Elvis? You must be some kind of Communist! Actually, since you’re from Kyoto that is pretty likely…
July 5th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
[...] I spotted this on a few gaming related blogs, but I think it’s important to note the similarity to Koizumi’s subtle attack on the President’s war policy. President George W. Bush received an early birthday present on Wednesday from Nintendo. The game developer sent the president one of their DS Lite portable gaming machines and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. [...]
July 7th, 2006 at 12:51 am
[...] Earlier post on the PMs visit to Graceland here. [...]
July 9th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
I’ve heard (second-hand; haven’t read any Japanese papers for a couple weeks as I’ve been out touring the UK) that part of this Graceland visit involved the Presleys giving Jun-chan gifts and saying “hey, y’know, it’d be cool if you could make Japanese copyright law give us all the money from dad’s tunes for a few extra decades.” Something to look into.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
[...] Who will stop Koizumi from continuing these perverse, random acts of worship?! [...]