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. It also, as tradition would have it, marked the occasion to hand off to the next summer Olympics city, which in this case is 2020 Games host Tokyo.
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And in lightning-fast Mario fashion, the iconic fictional character that has brightened your television screens from your Nintendo console appears once more all the way from Japan, back again as Shinzo Abe.
Between his sexy appearance and that of Abe as Mario (again: The Japanese Prime Minster as MARIO!), we forgot all about Ryan Locthe for a few hours last night.
Tokyo 2020 organizers said in a statement that the idea emerged from a brainstorming session.
It was definitely one of the most striking appearances of Shinzo Abe.
“I was impressed to see a national leader sacrificing his reputation and showing up in cosplay at this world event”, posted a Japanese-language Twitter user.
Some voices, however, were sharply critical. If this is anything to go by, the ceremonies at the games in 2020 should be a whole lot of fun.
The facility is being decommissioned and that is expected to take decades to achieve, while some areas around it remain uninhabitable due to high levels of radiation. Japan’s fast-paced teaser trailer featured athletes in action against the backdrop of Tokyo and scenes from Japanese manga and anime like Captain Tsubasa and Doaremon, the famous video game PAC-MAN and Japan’s favorite cat Hello Kitty. Shinzo Abe just climbed out a drain pipe dressed as Mario!
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“I wanted to show the world Japan’s influence with the help of a Japanese character”.
