LATIKA M BOURKE: Shinzo Abe adviser blasts Anthony Albanese over crude joke about Japanese PM’s melon gift

An adviser to former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have used his own melon before he participated in a crude joke about the melons that were given to him by Japan’s first woman leader.

Sanae Takaichi, a protege of Mr Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, made history when she overcame Japan’s male-dominated political culture to become the country’s first woman prime minister last October.

Earlier this year, she visited Mr Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra to build on the bilateral relationship. As is customary, she came bearing a gift for her host, giving Mr Albanese two Crown Melons, which are a highly prized luxury in Japan.

On a podcast last month, in which Mr Albanese said he would shag Kylie Minogue and talked about having to schedule sex with his new wife Jodie Haydon after watching their team the Rabbitohs play rugby league, Mr Albanese raised Ms Takaichi’s gift of fruit when asked to name the “most crap gift” he’s received.

Mr Albanese said he initially viewed Ms Takaichi’s present as “pretty strange, but ended up being quite good”.

“Got a couple of melons … she brought two, as you do,” the Prime Minister said, as he gestured with rounded hands either side of his chest.

Tomohiko Taniguchi, who served as an adviser to Shinzo Abe, who mentored Ms Takaichi, said the comment was unwise.

“I should be blunt in saying that he should have used his own melon — brain. Well, that’s too unsophisticated for anyone to seriously discuss,” he said.

“Politicians are like sometimes comedians or sometimes stage performers, applause, smile, laugh would be something that they are always eager to have, that’s part of their habit, regardless of their nationality, there are many such politicians in any country, Japan’s no exception.

“So as a top leader of a nation, you should keep close watch on what you say, as general advice, and that would apply to everyone.”

Opposition leader Angus Taylor called for Mr Albanese to apologise on Monday, saying the comments were “beneath the office of prime minister”.

“They were insulting, and the Prime Minister should make a personal apology,” Mr Taylor said.

“The hypocrisy of Labor and the Prime Minister on this topic knows no bounds.”

Mr Taniguchi said that the episode had not registered in Japan either in the mainstream media or on social media.

He said this was partly because of the language barrier and partly because the Japanese Prime Minister’s office would not make a deal out of it but simply laugh it off if asked.

“In reality, very little harm has been done, but if many people in Japan came to know that Prime Minister Albanese said something like that, Prime Minister Albanese would receive a lot of disrespect from the Japanese people, and it’s not going to do good to the overall bilateral relationship.

“So far, nothing of that sort has happened, and in six months’ time, people will have forgotten everything here.”

The melons Ms Takaichi gave to her Australian host are a luxury item in Japan and considered the “King of Fruits”. To make it to market, producers have to earn the Crown Melon Seal of Approval. Retailer Ikigai Fruits sells two for US$308.

Her choice of gift was deliberate as Australia this year updated biosecurity rules to allow fresh melons to be imported from Japan.

“They are extremely expensive and it takes a lot of care from the growers, farmers and the value has become doubly important because as has been reported, only in January this year, the ban that has been put on Japanese melons from Australia has been lifted,” Mr Taniguchi said.

“Takaichi was extremely glad about it as a politician because farmers in many countries are the backbone of any politics, so Takaichi wanted to highlight how important it is for Japan to start being able to sell the product that’s been the epitome of care and elaborate work, given by the Japanese workers and farmers.

“So it was very much symbolically important, and it’s been customary for the Japanese prime minister, whoever that may be, to bring some agricultural products whenever they make travels abroad because the agricultural industry is losing its share in the Japanese economy and Japanese young people are not interested in getting engaged in agriculture anymore.

“So those are the notions with which Takaichi, I could imagine, brought one pair of melons to Australia.”

In a follow-up episode of the Bush Deep podcast, Nikki Osborne revealed a gift Mr Albanese appeared to appreciate instantly, Canadian whisky given to him by his Canadian counterpart.

It was the alcoholic drink he was sipping throughout his infamous podcast appearance, Osborne revealed.

“He was acting like it was top-shelf — the bee’s knees,” she said.

Bryce Wakefield, CEO of the Canberra-based Australian Institute of International Affairs, is fluent in Japanese and spent several years in Japan in academia specialising in Japanese politics, said the joke was ill-conceived but not enough to cause a diplomatic incident.

“Albanese’s comments were poorly considered, but the Australia–Japan relationship under his government has moved well beyond warm rhetoric and strategic intent into a much denser, more practical partnership across defence, security and regional diplomacy,” Dr Wakefield said.

“An off-colour joke on a podcast is not going to derail a relationship of that depth. Whatever his critics might wish, this has gained no real traction in Japan and is unlikely to resonate beyond a narrow Australian audience already predisposed to dislike the Prime Minister.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Albanese said: “The basis of the story is incorrect.”