Anthony Albanese’s joke about a melon gifted to him by Japan’s Prime Minister may have been dismissed by Canberra as a storm over little more than an awkward gag. Yet among prominent Japanese figures who have actually watched the footage from the Bush Deep podcast, the judgment has been considerably harsher.
Inside her parliamentary office in Tokyo, Mitsuko Ishii, a member of Japan’s House of Councillors and a friend of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, described Mr Albanese as “a rather vulgar man” and spoke of her disappointment at his behaviour.
Across town, Shiori Yamao, a former MP and prosecutor, was equally unsparing in her assessment of what she’d seen.
Both concluded the Prime Minister had crossed a line.
“I think the Australian Prime Minister made a mistake,” Ms Ishii said, describing Mr Albanese’s remarks and gestures as “disrespectful”, “inappropriate”, and an episode that exposed a double standard in the treatment of a female leader.
“My reaction was, ‘Oh my God’,” she said.
“If a male prime minister gave a gift to a male prime minister of Australia, they wouldn’t make such a joke.”
Few Japanese people appear to have seen the footage of Mr Albanese with comedian Nikki Osborne on the podcast, and fewer still know of the controversy it has provoked in Australia.
Official reaction from Japan has been muted, and there is little sign of a broader Japanese backlash. But the response from those who have watched it complicates the government’s effort to dismiss the episode as a manufactured controversy.
Ms Yamao, who retired from the Diet in 2021 after years of advocating for women in Japanese politics, said her first instinct on seeing the clip was that it must have been fabricated.
“I thought it was AI,” she said.
Having satisfied herself that the footage was genuine, Ms Yamao said the exchange clearly carried a “sexual intention” to viewers, regardless of what Mr Albanese himself intended.
The Prime Minister has denied any such intent.
Mr Albanese conceded on national television on Thursday night that his appearance on Bush Deep – which also included selecting Kylie Minogue as his choice of three well-known women he would like to “shag” and revealing details of his sex life with new wife Jodie Haydon – was “an error” and that, if he had his time again, he “wouldn’t have done that podcast”.
But the melons saga took a new twist on Friday with revelations the Prime Minister’s comments were allegedly referenced by Sydney Swans players while they were receiving lap dances during a l party with exotic dancers that has sparked a police investigation.
“He should apologise for the lack of consideration which leads to the misunderstanding,” Ms Yamao said. “The Japanese people will accept that kind of apology very frankly, and it will make the relationship between the two countries very mature.”
Such a gesture, she argued, would carry no political cost for Ms Takaichi, but Mr Albanese’s failure to offer one might yet cost him. Asked if the Japanese leader had been damaged by the incident, Ms Yamao was clear the answer was no.
“It doesn’t hurt Takaichi’s value,” she said. “But it hurts his value as a politician, as a leader.”
Whatever the private judgment of figures like Ms Ishii and Ms Yamao, or that of Shingo Yamagami, who served as Japan’s ambassador to Australia until 2023 and wrote of the matter in The Australian earlier this month, Tokyo has shown no appetite for turning the episode into a diplomatic dispute.
Japan is one of Australia’s closest strategic partners in Asia, with deep defence and security ties, and a critical export market for Australian energy, beef and metals. Australia, in turn, depends on Japanese cars, trucks and heavy machinery to keep its mining and agricultural sectors running.
Last week, Japan’s current ambassador to Australia, Kazuhiro Suzuki, moved to close the matter down, saying he had been informed by the Australian government that Mr Albanese “did not make the comments in the way that has been reported”.
Preservation of the relationship remained a top-order priority despite any concerns surrounding Mr Albanese’s political judgment, according to Tomohiko Satake, a professor of international politics at Aoyama Gakuin University and a specialist in Australia-Japan relations.
“It would be a mistake to turn what is essentially a question about political judgment, gender and public conduct into a diplomatic issue between Japan and Australia,” Professor Satake said. “The strategic foundations of the Japan-Australia relationship are far too deep, and the shared security challenges facing the two countries far too significant.”
Ms Yamao agreed the relationship came first, but was adamant that official restraint should not be mistaken for indifference. “It’s a problem, but we are deliberately not showing that feeling, because Australia is so important for us – that’s what we want to make him (Mr Albanese) know.”
Ms Ishii drew a similar distinction between personal offence and diplomatic pragmatism.
“Personally, I despise the remark, but the establishment in Japan isn’t treating it as seriously as that.” Nor could she say with any certainty how Ms Takaichi herself felt about the matter.
“I’m a good friend of hers, and she might be offended – and she might choose not to comment and let it go,” she said.
As for why the reaction in Japan has been so muted, explanations range from a simple lack of media coverage to a society long accustomed to the problem exposed by Mr Albanese’s podcast appearance. At Sophia University, 21-year-old Natsuko Nagashima watched the footage for the first time and grimaced at what she saw. But she was blunt about its significance to a country preoccupied with more pressing domestic issues.
“Japanese people don’t take this as news,” she said. Her friend, 20-year-old Yusuke Teruya, was more startled. “Unbelievable,” he repeated several times. “It doesn’t change my image of Australia but I’m shocked. It’s not appropriate what he did to Takaichi. Maybe it’s better that he apologises.”
At Shibuya’s famed Hachiko statue, political science student Kohki Ari, aged 22, was one of the few interviewees already familiar with the controversy. The saga, he said, had lowered his opinion of Mr Albanese, largely because of how easily his words could be misunderstood. “Because it can be interpreted in the wrong way, in a way that people could see as inappropriate,” he said.
Japanese politics is itself no stranger to allegations of harassment. Its parliament and media remain heavily male-dominated, and the government itself has identified harassment as an obstacle to increasing female participation in political life.
A recent Cabinet Office study found that more than half of female local politicians surveyed said they, or people around them, had experienced it.
Mami Yoshinaga, a journalist and former head of the All Japanese Newspapers Labour Union who has co-written a guidebook on gender-related expression, said this context is why the country’s restraint should not be mistaken for a verdict that Mr Albanese did nothing wrong. Nor does she think the reaction in Australia has been excessive.
“No matter how he’s trying to defend himself, it’s not acceptable,” Ms Yoshinaga said. “The fact (Australians) are making a fuss about it, making a big deal about it, shows your society is healthy. If more Japanese people become aware of this sexual harassment issue, Japanese society will no longer remain silent.”
The premium melon itself occupies a revered place in Japanese gift-giving culture – far from the punchline it became in Australia – the product of an almost obsessive agricultural pursuit, according to Yosuke Suzuki of the Shizuoka Crown Melon agricultural co-operative. Each melon takes around 100 days to grow, with farmers permitting only a single fruit to mature on each plant. Before shipment, every melon is inspected for taste, shape and the fine web-like pattern etched across its skin.
Strict Australian import rules have limited shipments since the import market opened in February, but the product is available in high-end Japanese restaurants, where inquiries increased shortly after Ms Takaichi presented the gift to Mr Albanese.
Familiar with the footage of Mr Albanese, Mr Suzuki was reluctant to weigh in on the politics of it all. He said only that he remained unsure “about the meaning” of what Mr Albanese had intended by his remarks. What mattered more to him was that Australians understand what the gift represented in the first place.
“I’d like him (Mr Albanese) to know the value of the Crown Melon,” he said. “It’s very special for Japanese people and the culture. I just want him to know our Prime Minister showed him the highest respect. That’s why she selected it.”
Read related topics:Anthony Albanese
Yoni BashanNorth Asia Correspondent