Olympics Organizing Committee chairman Yoshiro Mori favors anime pop culture over traditional Japanese culture when it comes to the 2020 Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony. The Olympic games so far had its share of memorable moments such as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s iconic Mario get-up during last year’s ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
This time around, the organizing head of the 2020 Summer Olympics would like to tap on Japan’s pop culture once again. Mori wants the opening and closing ceremony of the Olympics to be just as memorable by using a medium that has worldwide recognition.
According to SoraNews24, Mori hopes to use a “Manga Parade” since he believes that it’s something the whole world would understand. The Committee Chairman even mentions a few notable icons in manga and anime such as “Astro Boy”, “Doraemon” and “Hello Kitty”.
Mori feels that the universal appeal of these popular characters would make them the best representatives of Japan. Furthermore, the organizing head believes that many wouldn’t understand if they were to use something that represents traditional Japanese culture such as Sumo Wrestling or Kabuki.
With the influx of a new generation of youth who know Japan mostly for its pop culture, the idea of a manga parade might not sound too far-fetched after all. Regardless, Mori’s main priority is to be able to organize a memorable event “that will remain in people’s hearts.”
However, it seems like anime and opening ceremonies aren’t the only concerns in the 2020 Summer Olympics. According to Quartz, Japan hopes to alleviate the country’s traffic and congestion problems ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
After all, the country is expecting about 920,000 visitors to arrive everyday during the Olympics. Needless to say, debating over whether or not Hello Kitty or Doraemon deserves to be Japan’s representative seems to be the least of their problems.
Image Screenshot via YouTube/Olympic Channel
