MEMPHIS, TENN. - President Bush chatting with Lisa Marie Presley. The Japanese prime minister singing from "Man of La Mancha." The Air Force One galley crew serving fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Historians might be hard pressed to choose the strangest image from Bush's visit to Graceland on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a devout Elvis Presley fan.

But it was clear that a corner was turned in U.S diplomatic relations. No longer is a visit to Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas, the measure of alliance with the commander in chief. Now it takes a visit to the holy church of American kitsch.

At the mansion/tourist attraction where Presley lived and died, Koizumi was so visibly happy it appeared at times he might levitate. And he broke into song, Elvis song, every few moments.

"I knew he loved Elvis," Bush said. "I didn't realize how much he loved Elvis."

The venerated home was closed to the public for the Bush-Koizumi visit. The two, along with first lady Laura Bush, got a private tour from the music icon's former wife, Priscilla, and his daughter, Lisa Marie.

The pilgrimage was a first for Bush, a first for Koizumi, and the first time an American president toured Graceland.

"When I was young, my exposure to America was Presley -- which is a vivid memory of my youth," Koizumi said. "The first English song I ever learned by heart was Presley's 'I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,' " a 1956 hit single.

Bush, who has sprinted through the Hermitage in Russia and grown bored at the Great Wall of China, lingered with his friend in Graceland's Jungle Room, where Koizumi warbled another song and swooped to his knees in a classic Presley concert gesture.

"Hold me close, hold me tight," Koizumi sang to Lisa Marie Presley, draping an arm over The King's offspring.

Lisa Marie, 38, also a musician, remained largely expressionless throughout the visit.

"You look like Elvis," Koizumi told her.

Across from the mansion, a quartet of Elvis impersonators in white sequined jumpsuits protested Japanese whaling practices -- to the tune of "Don't Be Cruel."

Throughout the tour, Bush remained stoic and amused while his foreign guest donned an authentic pair of Elvis sunglasses, touched the King's wallet from Graceland's private collection of personal effects and burst out singing. Again.

Laura Bush, reputed to have blanched at the garishness of the Clinton White House when she arrived in Washington, chatted amiably with Priscilla Presley as the group eyed the bright shag carpeting and animal prints of the notoriously flashy Graceland.

The two leaders met in 2001 and spent time together at Camp David, where Koizumi told the Texan he reminded him of Gary Cooper in "High Noon." During the same visit, the two played catch with a baseball in the woods.

What followed their evocation of Americana was an uncommonly close bond between two leaders, one that Bush remarks on frequently and holds up as an example of how democracy -- in this case, Japan's -- can transform former enemies into friends and allies.

Koizumi, who shares a Jan. 8 birthday with Elvis and once released a CD compilation of his favorite Elvis songs, has crooned to Bush poolside at the Texas ranch and serenaded the president on his 59th birthday last year, when the two attended the Group of Eight world leaders' summit in Scotland.

The trip to Graceland was a tender sayonara between the two, and an uncommonly personal flourish from Bush. Koizumi leaves office in September after five years as prime minister.

The trip, which also included a stop for barbecue at Memphis' classic Rendezvous restaurant, was Bush's idea. And although he and the first lady are Elvis fans, they harbor nothing on par with Koizumi's deep and burning love.

"It's like a dream," Koizumi said in heavily accented English. "I never expected president come with me to visit Graceland. There's Elvis' song," he started singing, from "Man of La Mancha": "To dream impossible ... my dream came true."

Said Bush, looking on in a composed way, "We're going to go have some barbecue."