President George W. Bush, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi listen to the Brian Setzer Orchestra perform in the East Room of the White House on June 29, 2006. The band performed to honor Koizumi, who attended a state dinner at the White House.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra performs in the East Room of the White House on June 29, 2006, following a state dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The guest list included Olympic athletes Apolo Anton Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi, Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, astronaut Soichi Noguchi and baseball great Hank Aaron.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, center, adjusts a microphone for country music entertainer Shoji Tabuchi, left, a surprise act for President George W. Bush, as Brian Setzer of the Brian Setzer Orchestra looks on during a state dinner at the White House on June 29, 2006.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivers remarks in front of a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln at an official dinner at the White House on Thursday, June 29, 2006. Koizumi is on a farewell North American tour before he leaves office in September.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Bush drink a toast at the White House on June 29, 2006. Bush paid Koizumi the ultimate compliment by comparing the prime minister to his musical hero. "Like you, he had great hair," Bush joked. "Like you, he was known to sing in public. And like you, he won admirers in countries far from home. That man was Elvis."
President Bush toasts Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the White House on June 29, 2006. Earlier, in an exchange of gifts, Koizumi gave the sports-loving president a bike and an enlarged version of the Japanese postage stamp that features Babe Ruth. The Bushes gave the Elvis-loving prime minister a refurbished 1954 jukebox that includes 25 songs by his favorite singer.
First lady Laura Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush pose in the Grand Foyer of the White House on June 29, 2006, before a state dinner in Koizumi's honor. The visit to the United States is Koizumi's last as prime minister.
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush walk down to the Grand Foyer of the White House, past a portrait of President Harry S. Truman, with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as they arrive at an official dinner on Thursday, June 29, 2006.
President Bush, left, first lady Laura Bush, center, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, right, at the North Portico of the White House for the start of a state dinner on June 29, 2006.
In an elaborate welcome, President Bush, center, greets Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, left, as first lady Laura Bush, right, waits on the top step at the North Portico of the White House for a state dinner on Thursday, June 29, 2006.
First lady Laura Bush, left, puts her arm around her husband President George W. Bush, right, as they wait at the North Portico of the White House for the arrival of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for the start of a state dinner on June 29, 2006.
First lady Laura Bush and President George W. Bush wait outside the White House on June 29, 2006, for the arrival of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a state dinner. The divorced Koizumi did not have a date. Mrs. Bush wore a taupe dress by Bill Blass with cherry blossoms hand-painted on the Chantilly lace bodice.
Place settings are shown for an official dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the State Dining Room of the White House on June 29, 2006. The formal dinner is the eighth of Bush's White House tenure and was for Koizumi, who leaves office in September after five years.
The White House dinner celebrated Japan-U.S. ties, complete with a diplomatic choice of main course: Kobe beef from descendants of Japanese cattle raised in Bush's home state of Texas, silver corn pilaf and sesame-coated wild asparagus, and Maryland she crab soup. The tables were covered in green silk and large spheres of green cymbidium orchids, which grow in the wild in Japan.
White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford, right, shows off the dessert plate named "Sweet Serenity," modeled after a Japanese bonsai garden. A chocolate tree is on a base of kumquat-stuffed cherries, surrounded by miniature chocolate pagodas.