Kabosu, a Shiba Inu whose “wonderful” face helped launch one of the defining memes of the last decade and inspired the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, died on Friday. She was 18 years old.
She “crossed the rainbow bridge” on Friday, her owner Atsuko Sato instagram.com/kabosumama/p/C7V8AGvJPm9/” title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>said on social media, adding that she died without suffering and while Mrs. Sato caressed her. She died at her home in Sakura, a city east of Tokyo, Sato said in an email Friday.
In the Animal Hall of Fame, Kabosu's sudden rise from an ordinary dog to a global meme could only be described as “surprising.” Sent to an animal shelter with a group of other Shiba Inu dogs after her breeder closed, she was adopted in 2008 by Ms. Sato, a kindergarten teacher. Ms. Sato began posting photos of Kabosu enjoying his life and playing at home. on your blog.
But a specific photo of Kabosu in 2010 broke through: with raised eyebrows and a look, much like a Rorschach test, that could be read as knowing, mischievous or funny. Her round head soon became one of the most recognizable faces in the world. doge meme.
Online followers originally peppered images of his face with text in the often-mocked comic sans font and grammatically incorrect two-word phrases that became their own language: a way to communicate a reaction to almost any situation. (Wide awake! What a scare! Wow!)
Kabosu's image, along with those of other Shiba Inu dogs, was cropped and remixed to make jokes ranging from the relatable to the absurd, eventually sparking jokes of their own. derivative memes. Nicolas Cage's face she was photoshopped onto her body. Her body was photoshopped. a loaf of bread. Even x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/415145732661059584″ title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>legislators they caught up and used Doge to communicate their discontent. (Another Shiba Inu, Suki, has also frequently been a source of Doge memes after a photo spread of her wearing a shrunken scarf and staring into the distance. according to a defining story of the meme on The Verge.)
Its image then veered into the cryptocurrency sphere after it was adopted as the logo of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency coin introduced as a joke in 2013. The meme coin turned some investors into millionaires overnight after experiencing a stratospheric rise in 2021, before fading.
Aware of his popularity or not, Kabosu didn't seem to mind the attention. Her temperament was unusually relaxed for a Shiba Inu, according to Ms. Sato.
“She is very gentle and calm; she loves to be photographed,” Sato said in an interview with The Verge in 2013. One volunteer, impressed by the roundness of the dog's face, named it after the Japanese citrus fruit of the same name. “I thought the name was perfect, so I kept it,” Sato said.
In recent years, the Shiba Inu had suffered bouts of ill health, and Ms Sato said in 2022 that it had been diagnosed with chronic lymphoma leukemia, a type of cancer, and acute cholangiohepatitis, a condition that inflames the liver and its surroundings.
His life was of interest to more than 500,000 online followers and he lived with three cats. Her birthday, November 2, was a cause for celebration for many, known as “Ducal Day.”
“She wasn't loved when she was little, so I want to shower her with love as a member of my family,” Sato told The Verge in 2013. instagram.com/kabosumama/p/C7V89iQpFLf/” title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Farewell party will be held for Kabosu on Sunday in Narita.
“I'm sure Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world,” she wrote on Friday.
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