Japan’s Prime Minister Shows up Via Warp Pipe, Dressed as Mario, to Take on Olympic Mantle at Rio Closing Ceremony

With a little help from Mario, Tokyo is ready to host the 2020 Olympics.

Relive #Rio2016 https://t.co/NgblGZD4gY https://t.co/8g3kNK94RF

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 22, 2016

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. In 2020, the Olympics are going to Tokyo, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe showed up in style to accept that responsibility after a short video (also featuring Hello Kitty and Pac-Man) teasing their hosting of the games.

Mario may well be the world’s most recognizable mascot—and he even made an appearance at the Olympics with Nintendo’s other icons—so it’s only fitting that he’d play a big part in a video all about how great Japan is. Yes, as you can see in the clip above, Abe showed up atop a giant replica of a warp pipe, wearing Mario’s signature outfit—which he quickly dropped for more standard attire, but not without waving the cap around to get the crowd going.

It’s like every YouTube video of a marching band doing video game formations has come to life on one of the biggest, most revered stages available, which is incredibly gratifying for a generation of gamers. If this is anything to go by, the ceremonies at the games in 2020 should be a whole lot of fun.

(via Eurogamer, featured image via screenshot)

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