Koizumi to meet with Bush, visit Memphis

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) -- Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has scheduled a meeting with U.S. President George Bush, but also arranged a side trip to the home of Elvis Presley.

The White House said Wednesday that Koizumi and Bush would meet on June 29 with the war on terror and global economic issues on the agenda. The nuclear program standoff in North Korea and the status of U.S. forces in Japan, particularly Okinawa, also are likely topics of discussion.

The Japan Times said Koizumi will then head for Memphis, where Presley's Graceland home is, because "the prime minister is known to be a big Elvis fan and shares a Jan. 8 birthday with Presley."

Koizumi is no small Elvis fan. He regaled Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, with Presley information during a state dinner in 2004 and when CNN did its morning news program from Japan later that year, the prime minister joined one of the network's anchors in singing a Presley song.

A prime minister with good taste in music!!!

LOL

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