Fact Check
Social media users claimed "Itsumi" meant "super" in Japanese and therefore Mario's catchphrase was the name of the Nintendo game he was featured in.
Nick Hardinges
Published June 24, 2024
Updated Nov. 11, 2024
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Claim:
Rather than saying "It's-a-me, Mario," Nintendo character Super Mario says "Itsumi Mario," which means "Super Mario" in Japanese.
Rating:
FalseAbout this ratingOn June 19, 2024, an X user claimedNintendo character Mario's catchphrase was "Itsumi Mario," not "It's-a-me, Mario" (archived here). The user said "Itsumi" meant "super" in Japanese, and therefore the animated Italian plumber was saying "Super Mario," the name of the iconic platform game series.
"I was today years old when I found out he doesn't say 'It's me Mario' ... he actually says 'Itsumi Mario'. Itsumi being the Japanese word for 'Super'…," the X user wrote.
Similar posts appeared elsewhere on X— where some users claimed "Itsumi" meant "superb"— on Reddit, in a TikTok video, and in numerousFacebook postsin June 2024.
In fact, Snopes found examples of the claim in Julyand August2023, and two examples in October 2021. Together, they had amassed more than 5.6 million views at the time of this writing.
However, Nintendo's website always referred to the catchphrase as "It's-a me, Mario," and never as "Itsumi Mario," which is why we have rated this claim as "False."
Snopes even found a Mario figurine called "It's-A Me, Mario™! Figure" on the Japanese video game company's online store. The product description read:
Kids of all ages will have endless fun with the 12-inch tall Mario™, packed with over 30 phrases and sound effects from the games. Includes the voice of Mario with iconic phrases like "woo-hoo", "it's-a-me" and many others!
In fact, there weremultiple references to the "It's-a-me" catchphrase across Nintendo's website in several countries, including its French-Canadian store.
In contrast, we found no examples of the video game company referring to the catchphrase as "Itsumi Mario."
Mario voice actor Charles Martinet also wrote "It's a me" in his Instagram bio, and his account name, charlesmartinetitsame also referenced the catchphrase. Likewise, Martinet appeared in a Guinness World Records YouTube video titled, "Charles Martinet: It's-A Me, Mario! - Guinness World Records," on Dec. 19, 2018.
Charles Martinet's Instagram bio and account name referenced the "It's a me" catchphrase. (Instagram account @charlesmartinetitsame)
Snopes also found three different movie transcript websites that all said the catchphrase was "It's-a-me, a-Mario."
Using Google's translation tool, "super" translated to "Subarashī (素晴らしい)" and "superb" translated to "Subarashīdesu (素晴らしいです), not "Itsumi."
Likewise, "Itsumi" in the Japanese language — which is both a Japanese surname(逸見) and a female name (逸美) — translated to "Hemi" and "Itsumi," respectively, in English.
Super Mario simply translated to "Sūpāmario (スーパーマリオ)" in Japanese.
On Nov. 10, 2024, X user @JoFrhwld (The Fruehwald) said via email that he "may have been the originator of the 'Itsumi Mario' trend."
Fruehwald said the social media posts investigated in this article were written after he posted the following item on X (archived).
However, in his email, he said the X post was never meant to be taken seriously by anyone.
I wasn't trying to plant the seeds of an urban legend. I just thought it was a good post, and an obvious language based joke.
Prior to Fruehwald's post, there were no earlier examples of the "Itsumi Mario" rumor on X, nor on Facebook. Therefore, it appeared to be the first iteration of the claim.
Snopes contacted Nintendo for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
Sources
'2x Gold Points for MAR10 Day!' Nintendo of Europe AG, https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/News/2019/March/2x-Gold-Points-for-MAR10-Day--1527635.html. Accessed 19 June 2024.
admin. 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) | Transcript'. Scraps from the Loft, 1 Feb. 2024, https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/super-mario-bros-movie-transcript/.
English to Japanese - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=english+to+japanese&oq=english+to+japanese&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyDwgAEEUYORiDARixAxiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiPAtIBCDM0ODlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Figurine It's-A Me, MarioTM! - Site Officiel Nintendo pour Canada. https://www.nintendo.com/fr-ca/store/products/its-a-me-mario-figure-119091/. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Guinness World Records. Charles Martinet: It's-A Me, Mario! - Guinness World Records. 2018. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-XUZE--qU8.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fcharlesmartinetitsame%2F%3Fhl%3Den&is_from_rle. Accessed 19 June 2024.
It's-A Me, MarioTM! Figure - Nintendo Official Site. https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/its-a-me-mario-figure-119091/. Accessed 19 June 2024.
'Itsumi'. Wikipedia, 13 June 2023. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Itsumi&oldid=1159984922.
'Itsumi Mario' 'Nintendo.Com' - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Itsumi+mario%22+%22nintendo.com%22&oq=%22Itsumi+mario%22+%22nintendo.com%22&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABiABBiiBDIKCAIQABiABBiiBDIKCAMQABiABBiiBNIBCDg5MjFqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 19 June 2024.
'Itsumi Mario' 'Nintendo.Co.Uk' - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Itsumi+mario%22+%22nintendo.co.uk%22&sca_esv=cbb07cb897603c0c&ei=DiFzZqrhMLm7hbIP-a63qAI&ved=0ahUKEwiqoLDZo-iGAxW5XUEAHXnXDSUQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=%22Itsumi+mario%22+%22nintendo.co.uk%22&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHyJJdHN1bWkgbWFyaW8iICJuaW50ZW5kby5jby51ayIyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigAUjRDFCYAliDCnABeACQAQCYAYUBoAGYA6oBAzMuMbgBA8gBAPgBAZgCA6AC2wKYAwCIBgGSBwMxLjKgB7sH&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#ip=1. Accessed 19 June 2024.
'Jump into Nintendo's Super Mario Hub!' Nintendo of Europe AG, https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Characters-hub/Super-Mario-Hub/Super-Mario-Bros-Hub-Mario-Games-627604.html. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Meet Mario and His Friends! - News - Nintendo Official Site. https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/meet-mario-and-his-friends/. Accessed 19 June 2024.
'The Super Mario Bros. Movie/Transcript'. Moviepedia, https://movies.fandom.com/wiki/The_Super_Mario_Bros._Movie/Transcript. Accessed 19 June 2024.
'The Super Mario Bros Movie/Transcript'. Illumination Entertainment Wikia, https://illumination.fandom.com/wiki/The_Super_Mario_Bros_Movie/Transcript. Accessed 19 June 2024.
https://store-queue.nintendo.co.uk/?c=nintendostoreuk&e=lrwrv2&ver=javascript-4.0.0&cver=60&man=store.nintendo.co.uk&t=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.nintendo.co.uk%2Fen%2Fsuper-mario. Accessed 19 June 2024.
Updates
Nov. 11, 2024: This article was updated to include comments from X user @JoFrhwld, who told Snopes he may have inadvertently started the "Itsumi Mario" rumor.
By Nick Hardinges
Nick Hardinges is a London-based reporter who previously worked as a fact-checker at Reuters.
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