CULTURAL EXCHANGE: City Councilwoman Carol Chumney stands with Yohei Kono, speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives, during a recent trip she took to Japan. -- Photographs Courtesy Of Carol Chumney

When the Japanese Prime Minister recently crooned a bar of "I want you, I need you, I love you" to Lisa Marie Presley in an impromptu serenade in Graceland's Jungle Room, the whole world saw it the next day.

The image of a smiling Junichiro Koizumi - arms outstretched and wearing a pair of garish sunglasses - was published and broadcast across the globe following his June 30 visit to Memphis. The trip was hosted by President George W. Bush, a close friend who knew of Koizumi's adulation of Elvis.

But what might have gone unnoticed since then is that Memphis has continued to maintain some significant connections to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Memphis looks East

One example is scheduled later this month. The Consulate-General of Japan at New Orleans, Masaru Sakato, will attend a luncheon at The Peabody Hotel Aug. 31. The event is being hosted by the Memphis Regional Chamber and FedEx.

Another example is Memphis City Council member Carol Chumney, who has just returned from her own trip to Japan.

During her three-day stay, she met with local political leaders, dined with dignitaries and toured the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo - the same shrine Koizumi himself visited earlier this week, generating protests from some international circles. Japanese war dead are honored at the shrine along with known war criminals.

Chumney's trip came about through her selection by the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), which tapped her to join a group attending the international summit in Tokyo - by coincidence, a few weeks after Koizumi's visit to Memphis. While she was there, Chumney heard from diplomat Yohei Kono, the speaker of Japan's House of Representatives.

"He talked to our whole group about things like who was going to be the new Prime Minister and their interest in that, because they're in their election cycle right now," Chumney said. "He talked about Japan's role in the world right now and in the Asian community and its connection to the United States."

Elvis, of course

Her trip probably wouldn't have been complete without the obligatory Elvis reference, so Chumney presented Kono with a boxed set of Elvis CDs donated by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

It was one of many recent examples of an ocean-spanning, news-making swap of culture, politics and Memphis music that's continuing to affect destinations that are worlds apart.

Japan exerts a big influence on Tennessee. Japanese companies employ about 40,000 Tennesseans, according to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and Tennessee companies sold more than $815 million in exports to Japan last year.

Nissan Motor Co., the second-largest automaker in Japan, is moving its North American headquarters to Franklin, near Nashville.

The summit Chumney attended was the first of its kind for the ACYPL. For the group's 40th anniversary this year, 40 of its American alumni and 40 international alumni were chosen to attend the Tokyo summit, where they met the Speaker of the Japanese Diet - which is the country's legislature - and held panel workshops, attended a dinner hosted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry and went to a reception with the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, J. Thomas Schieffer.

Chumney previously traveled to Japan in 1992 when she was a delegate on an ACYPL political study program.

"I think we have at least several thousand alumni over the 40 years that we've been in existence," said Quentin Lide, director of programs for the ACYPL. "And this is the first time we've done something like this.

"We have alumni events in the U.S., but this is the first one where we've done it overseas."

Source of fuss

Chumney was tapped to be part of the Tokyo summit that was held July 23 to 26 after the group winnowed down 40 years' worth of alumni to a select few. The nonprofit, bipartisan ACYPL, which focuses on emerging leaders between 25 and 40 years old, is partly funded by a bureau within the U.S. State Department.

Each year, the ACYPL receives some 700 to 800 nominations, and of those, fewer than 150 people are selected to travel in the summit/exchange program.

One of the most memorable parts of Chumney's recent trip was the private visit she made to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Visits to the picturesque shrine, guarded by a statue of two lions and adorned by ponds and cherry blossoms, typically brings an outcry when Japanese prime ministers pay their respects there. Such a visit, critics suggest, implies a stamp of approval on the war criminals honored there.

"So I wanted to go out there by myself and see what everyone was talking about," Chumney said.

One day during her stay, Chumney navigated the Tokyo subway and ended up getting off at the wrong exit. She walked four blocks to the high-profile shrine.

"I just thought, 'If I get lost ...'" Chumney laughed, trailing off.

But she found the shrine and had time for a quick view and to snap a photo. This from the Memphis city council member most well-known for her watchdog stance on budget issues and the widespread belief that she is gearing up for a mayoral run.

Kono, one of the dignitaries who talked to Chumney's group and with her privately, recently urged Prime Minister Koizumi to stop visiting the controversial shrine. The topic also was discussed often among the visiting ACYPL group.

But despite urgings from Kono and others, Koizumi visited the shrine Tuesday on what was the 61st anniversary of the end of World War II. Koizumi, whose term expires next month, wrote his name in the visitor's book there and identified himself as the prime minister.