When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited Australia in May, she brought her host a gift chosen with diplomatic care: Crown Melons from Shizuoka, the most prized fruit in Japan, to mark Australia’s decision in January to reopen its market to Japanese melons. In Japan, a single Crown Melon can cost more than a fine bottle of wine. Its perfection, based on the Japanese artisan spirit of takumi, is what you bring when you wish to honor someone.

Two months later, on a podcast called “Bush Deep,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recalled the gift as “strange” but ultimately quite good. His host, the comedian Nikki Osborne, likened the melons to actress Pamela Anderson. Albanese then grinned, raised his hands to chest height in a cupping gesture and said, “She brought two. As you do.” The studio laughed. The clip traveled around the world.

Consider who was being laughed at. Takaichi is the first female prime minister in Japanese history, and she leads a country locked in its most dangerous confrontation with China in decades. After she told the Diet last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could threaten Japan’s survival, a Chinese consul general posted, in a message since deleted, about cutting off her ”dirty neck.” Each of Beijing’s military theater commands issued statements denouncing her. This is the leader of Australia’s closest security partner in Asia, and her state gift became a breast joke on a crude podcast.

What happened next is the real story, because almost nothing happened at all.

Albanese’s office issued a one-sentence written apology, but for a different........

© The Japan Times