--- title: Shinzo Abe Dresses as Super Mario for Rio Closing Ceremony description: Japan's prime minister dressed as the iconic Nintendo video game character, donning a suit and hat and holding a red ball canonical: https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-22T09:44:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:42.515Z og:title: Shinzo Abe Dresses as Super Mario for Rio Closing Ceremony og:description: Japan's prime minister delights crowds as iconic Nintendo character og:url: https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80a22bbdcb575115/6988a322e20a8777fda921a4/ap_340808773641.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2699 og:image:height: 1518 og:image:alt: Olympics: Japanese PM Abe during closing ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shinzo Abe Dresses as Super Mario for Rio Closing Ceremony twitter:description: Japan's prime minister delights crowds as iconic Nintendo character twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80a22bbdcb575115/6988a322e20a8777fda921a4/ap_340808773641.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Japan's Shinzo Abe Pops Up as Super Mario for Olympics Closing Ceremony > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Aug 22, 2016 9:44 AM UTC  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, dressed up as Super Mario, makes an appearance during the closing ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Aug. 21, 2016\. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, dressed up as Super Mario, makes an appearance during the closing ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Aug. 21, 2016\. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo Kyodo—Kyodo by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Aug 22, 2016 9:44 AM UTC Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised watchers of the Olympics Games closing ceremony by donning a Super Mario costume to celebrate the official handover from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo. Abe made the whimsical entrance following a short clip which showed him transform into Mario to try to find the way to Rio. Joined by Pac-Man and anime figures, he jumps into his famous green pipe in Tokyo, and then falls down a tunnel through the earth to the Brazilian Maracana stadium. Abe then rose up from a pipe in the stadium dressed as the iconic Nintendo video game character, donning a suit and hat and holding a red ball, which he held high in the air. The bit was to commemorate the official handover to Tokyo, which will host the Olympic Games in 2020. > [](https://twitter.com/nippon%5Fen/status/767527479489671168) Social media immediately went wild, with viewers amazed at the sight of the typically stony-faced Prime Minister engaging in such light-hearted fun. > [](https://twitter.com/aBasithH/status/767532532732727297) > [](https://twitter.com/coverfer/status/767525650810806272) > [](https://twitter.com/patriciahizon/status/767527515619467264) > [](https://twitter.com/the%5Freal%5Fpalmer/status/767529975541030912) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/"},"headline":"Japan's Shinzo Abe Pops Up as Super Mario for Olympics Closing Ceremony","datePublished":"2016-08-22T09:44:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:42.515Z","description":"But no sign of Donkey Kong","url":"https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/","keywords":["Newsfeed","olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80a22bbdcb575115/6988a322e20a8777fda921a4/ap_340808773641.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80a22bbdcb575115/6988a322e20a8777fda921a4/ap_340808773641.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Olympics: Japanese PM Abe during closing ceremony","caption":"Olympics: Japanese PM Abe during closing ceremony","creditText":"Kyodo—Kyodo","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4460923/super-mario-japan-prime-minister-shinzo-abe/","name":"Japan's Shinzo Abe Pops Up as Super Mario for Olympics Closing Ceremony"}}]}] ```