Shinzo Abe dressed as Super Mario at Rio closing ceremony is today’s weirdest/greatest moment in geopolitics
He has a reputation as a hardline conservative, rarely seen dressed in anything except austere business attire or the anachronistic swallow-tailed morning suit favoured by Japanese politicians on formal occasions.
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”.
Yet up he popped - literally, emerging vertically from a giant green pipe - dressed in the familiar blue overalls and red cap of the moustachioed game icon Super Mario. The bizarre cameo came at the end of the introductory video for the 2020 Tokyo games, as the Rio games ended with an exuberant closing ceremony.
He quickly shed the costume to reveal his usual attire: a dark suit. A presentation heavy on computer holograms followed, with the 61-year-old awkwardly holding a big red ball and waving his plumber’s hat. The reaction on Twitter was predictably enthusiastic.
It was a nice plug for video-game maker Nintendo Co, the creator of the franchise that has made Mario, Zelda and other beloved characters recognised around the world. Shares of the Kyoto-based company rose about 3 per cent.
