Spirit of Elvis still lives in Japan fans' hearts

TOKYO, June 28: The ''King'' never came to Japan, but Japan's prime minister is making a pilgrimage to Graceland.

Elvis fan Billy Morokawa says Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will likely feel the power of Presley's enduring energy when he tours the rock-and-roll legend's home in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday with US President George W Bush.

''I don't feel that he's still alive, but his spirit still lives,'' said Morokawa, vice president of the Elvis Presley Fan Club-Tokyo, who has visited Graceland four times.

''The energy he gave out when he was alive even now isn't disappearing, it's expanding. Maybe Koizumi can feel that energy when he goes to Graceland.'' Koizumi, 64, is an Elvis devotee who not only shares a Jan. 8 birthday with his idol, but picked out his songs for a 2001 charity album, ''Junichiro Koizumi Presents My Favorite Elvis Songs''. The prime minister appears on the album's cover standing next to Elvis outside Graceland in a composite picture.

Back in 1987 when Koizumi was a mere lawmaker, he and his brother Masaya, now a senior adviser to the Tokyo fan club, helped raise funds to erect a status of Elvis in the Japanese capital to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

Three years ago the prime minister, an eclectic music lover whose favourites also include German composer Richard Wagner, sang his favourite Elvis hit -- ''I Want You, I Need You, I Love You'' -- with actor Tom Cruise, then in Tokyo to promote his movie ''The Last Samurai''.

Koizumi, a maverick politician who sprang to power in 2001 promising to breathe fresh life into Japan's stale politics and stalled economy, is hardly the only Elvis fan in Japan.

TRACING THE ROOTS

Founded in 1985, the Elvis Presley Fan Club-Tokyo boasts around 3,000 members, making it perhaps the world's second biggest after one in Britain, said club president Tad Akazawa.

The group holds Elvis impersonator contests and other events, and sponsors Graceland tours every year.

Another group, the Elvis Presley Society of Japan, has 2,000 members, and countless other clubs dot the country.

''Elvis was the root of all music -- country, blues, rock and roll, gospel,'' said Tomikazu Taguchi, president of the Elvis Presley Society, who hopes Koizumi's Graceland visit will help attract a new generation of Japanese fans.

Morokawa, a singer and author of books about rockabilly music, says Elvis didn't make the same splash in Japan as the Beatles did -- largely because he debuted in the 1950s before the days of instant satellite communication and widespread TV ownership.

Although Presley never performed in Japan, his 1973 ''Aloha from Hawaii'' concert, his first to be broadcast worldwide via satellite, is still recalled by Japanese fans.

''The really huge Elvis boom in Japan occurred in the 1970s,'' Morokawa said. ''So in Japan, Elvis wasn't the early Elvis, but the pudgy Elvis in a jumpsuit.'' Morokawa's own admiration, triggered by a late-night Elvis movie when he was 15, at first had little to do with music.

''I started to think 'I want to be like Elvis Presley'. Play the guitar, sing songs and have girls tell me they love me,'' said Morokawa, 48, whose tiny apartment is awash with Elvis posters.

''It was a kind of wild dream.'' Just what the attraction of the icon of American pop culture is for Koizumi, only the prime minister knows for sure, although both figures are known for challenging the establishment in their drive to create something new.

Koizumi, something of a political lone wolf, has been credited with kicking off a new era of strong leadership and media strategy during his five years in office.

''Elvis rebelled against existing ways of thinking and started a new revolution. I often say that Elvis created a new civilisation of 'rock' and the Beatles and Rolling Stones created a culture within that,'' Morokawa said.

''I think that's what attracted Koizumi.''

REUTERS