Before the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would likely have topped polls of “least likely to appear on world stage dressed as a video game character”.
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His entrance came at the end of a two-minute video broadcast at the ceremony and employed universally beloved Japanese-invented characters like Doraemon, Hello Kitty, Mario and Pac-Man. Mr Abe’s brief but show-stopping appearance as Super Mario offered a tantalising glimpse at Tokyo’s plans for the 2020 games. So it makes sense that in Japan’s bombastic new “trailer” looking head to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, it should showcase all these things.
The ceremony ended with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro giving the Olympic flag to the International Olympic Committee, who handed it over to the Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike. He was holding a red ball and raised a peaked red cap.
It looks like Tokyo is more than ready to take on the Winter Games.
“I never thought of having Prime Minister Abe play Mario, let alone him emerging from plumbing”, another Twitter user said.
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio went out with a bang at the closing ceremony last night, which included passing the torch (not the literal one, in this case) to the next city. With a red ball in his hand, Mario jumped into the tube and arrived in Rio with the familiar sound from the video game.
A video showcase of Tokyo as the next Olympic destination briefly featured a number of the country’s star athletes, but also curiously portrayed Japanese PM Shinzo Abe as the popular Nintendo mascot.
Tokyo 2020 organizers said in a statement that the idea emerged from a brainstorming session.
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Shinzo Abe was dressed as Super Mario, Japan’s biggest cultural export.
