The folks at the left-wing Asahi Shinbun are not happy about the cost of Junichiro Koizumi’s final foreign trips while Prime Minister:

He imitated Elvis at Graceland before dropping in on Canada, Russia and the Middle East.

And while former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will no doubt always remember the trips he took just before he stepped down in September, it is the taxpayers who are left footing what the government estimates is a bill of at least 800 million yen (6.75 million US dollars).

Koizumi’s last official visit to the United States will probably be best remembered for his impersonation of his personal hero, Elvis Presley. It drew criticism that this was Koizumi’s “graduation trip,” rather than a chance to discuss matters of state.

The costs of the four overseas tours taken between late June and August this year were revealed Tuesday in response to a written request from Akira Uchiyama, a Lower House member of opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan). Uchiyama doubted if the taxpayers money was used “appropriately.”

It’s a good thing to be concerned about the way taxpayer money is being spent, but it seems like their focus is off. Most international trips by heads of states are usually more for the purpose of affirming friendship between states, not actually engaging in serious discussions or policy debates. Koizumi’s trips gave the media in those countries an opportunity focus on Japan’s friendly relations with their government and remind millions of people that Japan is their ally (his Elvis stunt in America was especially helpful in getting extra media coverage). I really can’t see a problem with spending $6.75 milllion on such trips, especially when there are far more wasteful government projects going on that newspaper editorials should be complaining about instead (highways and bridges to nowhere, extra concrete lining to creeks, anti-erosion concrete crap on the shoreline).