A ‘Manga Parade’ Might Happen at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

If you are going to ask someone on how they were able to know and appreciate Japan, almost 99% of the time, it would be because of the various anime and manga. Yoshiro Mori, Japan’s former prime minister and current president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games have seen this and has considered on having a “manga parade” during the ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

During the discussions for the event’s opening and closing ceremonies, Mori has expressed that a majority of people around the world were able to embrace and know about Japan and its culture is due to various anime series being aired as well as manga being distributed and translated in different languages. Although things like sumo, kabuki, and Japanese food like sushi are known icons of Japan, they aren’t really that noticeable unlike the massive influence of anime and manga. Characters like Hello Kitty, Astro Boy, Son Goku, and Sailor Moon are very popular especially to foreigners and Mori likes the idea of having such parade.

With only three years left before the big event, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Monday held a special projection mapping which features a popular footage of the Kaneda bike sequence from Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira. Aside from this, the organizing committee has revealed the following characters that will appear on official Olympic merchandise: Luffy from One Piece, Shin-chan, Son Goku (from the Dragon Ball franchise), Sailor Moon, Jibanyan (Yokai Watch), Naruto, Astro Boy, and Maho Girls Precure!’s Cure Miracle and Cure Magical.

One of the official members of the Mascot Selection Review Conference for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 is Shoko Nakagawa. When it comes to this parade proposal, the official Olympic mascot, and other things, they are hoping that final decisions will finally be made by the committee next year.

Source: Jiji Press