For much of my life, I was something of a political animal, tempered by social requirements, but eventually tamed and then driven into apathy by circumstance. However, given a chance this week to watch a series of brilliant documentaries about Australian politics with a Tokyo connection, I felt stirrings of an old flame. Mark Willacy, a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who was based in Tokyo as its North Asia correspondent from 2008 to 2013, interviewed more than 60 current and former Australian politicians for the three-part documentary series, Nemesis, that aired over the past couple of weeks and…
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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Japan this week, but you’d barely have known it. Despite repeated claims of the Japan-Australia relationship being stronger than ever, Turnbull’s trip went almost unnoticed by the Japanese media. Turnbull toured an Air Self-Defense Force base with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seeing first-hand the Australian-made luncheon made using pricey Australian ingredients with Japanese-influenced dishes. Tickets for the invitation-only luncheon held by the