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Locals Cheer as Tokyo “Mario Kart” Company Faces Charges
Street go-karts are Japan’s most hated tourist attraction. Now, they’re also drawing attention from the cops.
By Jay Andrew Allen
What’s the most hated tourist service in Japan? If you held a vote, go-kart companies would win hands down. These “Mario Kart” style services annoy both native Japanese and foreign residents alike. So no one was surprised — or displeased — to find one of these companies was in trouble with the law. (Yes, again.)
A troubled legal history
The Mario Kart services rent go-karts to Japanese tourists. Operators guide them through an on-street tour of part of a major city, such as Tokyo. The gimmick plays on people’s adoration of Nintendo’s popular Mario Kart game series. In those games, in which characters from the Super Mario Bros. series go-kart race against each other.
(No, you can’t throw tortoise shells from these go-karts. That would, admittedly, be kinda cool.)
These companies have been controversial since their inception. One company, Street Kart, had to change its name from “MariCar” and stop lending Nintendo…
