How Ex-Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Used a Nintendo Fan-Favorite to Take the 2016 Rio Olympics by Storm

Nintendo is one of the most popular console manufacturers in the community. Over the years, the company has set its dominance in the console market by releasing popular video game titles such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and much more. Undoubtedly, Super Mario is the most popular Nintendo franchise and Mario is the most recognized Mario universe character among fans.

Owing to Mario’s enormous popularity, it has set a trademark as the most famous Japanese video game character. Interestingly, back in 2016, Japan’s former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, cosplayed the Mario character at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Continue reading to find out more about this interesting incident.

Japan’s deceased prime minister, Shinzo Abe, once portrayed an iconic Nintendo character

Shinzo Abe was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. Furthermore, he was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. Unfortunately, the Japanese’s longest-serving Prime Minister recently passed away.

Here’s an interesting story when Abe impersonated the most popular Nintendo video game character, Mario. Back in 2016, Japanese former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, stole the entire Rio de Janeiro Olympics closing ceremony show by dressed up as video game legend Super Mario.

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During the closing ceremony, Abe popped out of a pipe as part of the baton being passed to the Summer Games’ next host nation, Japan. Indeed, it became a memorable memory for every Nintendo fan and the most historic moment for the Mario franchise.

Shinzo Abe was not interested in impersonating a legendary video game character, Mario

Several Nintendo fans were impressed by Abe’s closing ceremony performance by portraying the legendary Mario character. However, Abe once revealed that he was never interested in dressing up as Mario during the closing ceremony.

In one of Japan Today’s blogs, it mentioned Abe’s impression of impersonating Mario on stage. He said, “To be honest, when Mori first came to me with the idea, I didn’t like it. ‘Is it really OK for a prime minister to dress up like Mario?’ I asked. As much as possible, I wanted to avoid any politicizing of the Olympics, and it’s a 20-hour flight to Rio.”

He further opened up about Mori’s team’s reaction and the real reason he decided to dress up as Mario in the end. Abe added, “I was his deputy chief cabinet secretary, so he was something of a mentor to me. ‘You’re the only one who can do this, since you’ve been serving as prime minister so long and are recognized internationally,’ he said, so I ended up doing it.”

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