Jerusalem may be the Holiest city on Earth, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t host cosplay conventions. The Holy city’s very own International Conventions Center recently held the Harucon 2017 event, which celebrates anime. And during that event, Japan’s own ambassador to Israel surprised everyone by cosplaying as One Piece’s Luffy!

Koji Tomita is Japan’s ambassador to Israel, and he’s been attending Harucon for a while now. He attended last year, and even admitted that he felt embarrassed going to the event while dressing formally. So this year, he chose to come as Luffy, and in turn, thrilled the fans in Jerusalem.

The Japanese government ain’t exactly shy when promoting anime and manga abroad, and Ambassador Tomita showing up as Luffy is a reflection of that trend.

The Association for Manga and Anime in Israel (AMAI) has been organising Harucon every spring for 10 years now. They’ve also invited veteran seiyuu couple, Toshio Furukawa and Asuma Shinohara as special guests this year.

source: Asahi Shimbun