Mario at 40: How a Moustachioed Plumber Quietly Became the World’s Most Valuable Export and Accidental Diplomat
TOKYO—In a cramped conference room high above Shibuya Crossing, where pedestrian herds jay-walk in perfect, pixelated choreography, Nintendo’s stock ticker flashed emerald green. The occasion? The 40th anniversary of a short, mustachioed Italian plumber who has never actually fixed a pipe. Instead, Mario Mario—yes, that redundant baptism is canon—has spent four decades hopping over geopolitical…
