Japan’s prime minister dressed as Super Mario at Rio closing ceremony

The Associated Press

8 years ago

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears as the Nintendo game character Super Mario during the closing ceremony at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. Abe’s brief but show-stopping appearance as Super Mario offered a tantalizing glimpse at Tokyo’s plans for the 2020 games. (Yu Nakajima/Kyodo News via Associated Press)

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a ball during the closing ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. Tokyo will host the next Summer Games in 2020. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe poses just after removing the costume of the Nintendo game character Super Mario as he makes an appearance during the closing ceremony at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. Abe’s brief but show-stopping appearance as Super Mario offered a tantalizing glimpse at Tokyo’s plans for the 2020 games. (Yu Nakajima/Kyodo News via Associated Press)

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears during the closing ceremony in the Maracana stadium at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe removes costume of the Nintendo game character Super Mario as he makes an appearance during the closing ceremony at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. Abe’s brief but show-stopping appearance as Super Mario offered a tantalizing glimpse at Tokyo’s plans for the 2020 games. (Masanori Takei/Kyodo News via Associated Press)

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s brief but show-stopping gig at the Olympic closing ceremony as the Nintendo game character Super Mario offered a tantalizing glimpse at Tokyo’s plans for the 2020 games.

The organizers for the Tokyo games crammed the works into a brief two-minute film montage before Abe’s appearance: Athletes perform more than a dozen sports as landmarks like Tokyo Tower, cherry blossoms, a bullet train, Tokyo Bay Bridge and the famous “scramble” intersection in Shibuya whiz by.

Anime and video game icons like Pac Man and Hello Kitty feature, along with the beloved blue Doraemon cat, who pulls from his pocket of magic gadgets a green warp pipe to whisk Abe from his limousine in Tokyo straight to Rio.

Abe pretty much upstaged, at least on Twitter, other highlights of the Olympic finale.

Even China’s Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily, not generally a fan of the hawkish Japanese politician, put out a tweet, though without any comment: “#Japanese PM Shinzo Abe appears from imaginary tunnel, disguised as #SuperMario”.

Abe, who emerged from his Super Mario outfit in his usual get-up of a smartly tailored suit and tie, is getting mostly favorable commentary on his impersonation of the game character.

In that, the organizers gearing up in Tokyo for the 2020 games appear to have achieved what they were striving for:

“Cool!” ”OMG” and “I want to go to Tokyo!”