Watch Hugh Jackman Stumble Upon Real Life Mario Kart in Tokyo Traffic

Sadly, that doesn’t mean an X-Men/Mario crossover event is in the works.

byEric Brandt|
Watch Hugh Jackman Stumble Upon Real Life <em>Mario Kart</em> in Tokyo Traffic
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A jovial Hugh Jackman was sitting in traffic in Tokyo when he was pleasantly surprised by some rather serious looking Mario Kart racers. He shared his glee with Twitter.

"Oh, it's Mario Kart!" exclaimed Jackman. "They're off! Go Mario! Go Luigi! Go, go, go!"

These motorists appear to be participating in a service provided by MariCar, a company which does, well, exactly this. If you've ever fantasized about having a real-life Mario Kart race in the streets of Japan, MariCar can hook you up. They provide the karts and costumes so you can dress the part, rather than simply driving around in a go-kart. Business is booming too, with MariCar reportedly booking about 1,000 go-kart spots per month...almost all of which are for foreign tourists.

Participating in MariCar's program requires licensing, since you're driving a street legal kart on public roads. You need either a Japanese driver's license, an international driving permit, or a SOFA license from the U.S. Armed Forces. These go-karts use air-cooled two-stroke single cylinder 49.3-cc engines that let the karts max out around 40 mph. Each kart weighs about 200 pounds, however, so it's probably a pretty fun thing to toss around—especially in costume.

However, if you go to MariCar's website, you won't find anything about Nintendo. That's because Nintendo hit them with an infringement suit back in March, so now they're marketing that you can wear a "superhero" costume which might happen to resemble an iconic plumber, princess, or green dinosaur.

Check out the video below for a closer look at some real-life Mario Kart action.

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