Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe stole the show on Sunday night at the Olympics closing ceremony, taking to the stage in Rio dressed as Super Mario, arguably his country's most famous export.

 

With the closing ceremony coming to an end, the governor of Tokyo accepted the Olympic flag as a symbol that the Games would be held there in four years.

 

The hand off led into a trailer for the Tokyo Olympics, culminating in the logo for 2020 being revealed and Mr Abe's surprising cameo.

 

In the video, which followed Mario, the video game hero was joined by Pac-Man and anime characters.

 

The clip showed a journey from the streets of Tokyo down a tunnel to the Maracana stadium in Brazil, Rio.

 

However, as the trailer ended a clip of Mario barreling down a classic green tube was shown on screen.

 

Then, wearing blue overalls, a red long-sleeve T-shirt and red cap, a man dressed as Super Mario came up and out of a real green warp pipe center stage in the arena.

 

The man pulled away his clothing and hat revealing none other than a suited Abe beneath the clothing.