Kasobu, a Shiba Inu from Japan made famous from a viral meme and a cryptocurrency, has died at 18, her owner says. Photo / Atsuko Sato
Kasobu, a Shiba Inu from Japan made famous from a viral meme and a cryptocurrency, has died at 18, her owner says. Photo / Atsuko Sato
An adorable Japanese Shiba Inu named Kabosu has died at her home at the age of 18. We look back at the dog that took over the internet in the early 2010s and later became the face of a budding cryptocurrency.
Atsuko Sato, Kabosu’s owner, announced the death of the dog in an Instagram post.
“To all of you who loved Kabosu, on the morning of the 24 May, Kabosu crossed the rainbow bridge. Thank you all so much for your support over the years,” Sato wrote.
After 18 years, Kabosu began to suffer from liver disease and leukaemia. However, Sato told fans the Shiba Inu died peacefully in her sleep.
“She went very peacefully without suffering, as if falling asleep while feeling the warmth of my hands petting her.
Sato is a kindergarten teacher in Japan. According to The Wall Street Journal, the 62-year-old found Kabosu at an animal shelter and adopted her in 2008.
Sato frequently posted photos of her pets online, which included Kabosu and her cats.
One 2010 photo of Kabosu with her head leaning back, slightly smiling, and legs crossed went viral in 2013, becoming Know Your Meme’s “top meme” for that year and copping the attention of cryptocurrency developers such as Billy Markus.
The dog’s popularity first surged on Reddit and Tumblr, with one Reddit user intentionally misspelling the word dog and coining Kabosu’s photo as “Doge”.
As a common meme template, people would place text in a simple Comic Sans font over the photo of Kabosu and use broken English to make jokes.
Kabosu’s image has been shared millions of times and shaped into countless memes. She has graced social media feeds in multiple contexts since 2013, having been shared by celebrities and even politicians.
Markus used the “doge” meme to co-create the dogecoin in 2013, placing the photo of Kabosu on a gold coin as the cryptocurrency’s token, reported the Journal.
Dogecoin (pronounced dohj-coin) was originally designed to make fun of the cryptocurrencies that were being circulated. It has sustained popularity and seen waves of interest from supporters who would like to see it move from a “memecoin” to a respected currency.
Even billionaire Elon Musk said at the time he was acquiring Twitter (now X) that the company should open access to dogecoin as a payment option for Twitter’s subscription services.
Dogecoin has become a somewhat successful cryptocurrency, favoured by billionaire Elon Musk. Photo / Getty Images
The 52-year-old Tesla CEO has been open about his love for dogecoin over the years, calling it his “fav cryptocurrency” in 2019.
And in April last year, X temporarily turned its former blue bird logo into the dogecoin image on its homepage. Musk failed to give any reason or justification for the move but acknowledged the change by sharing his own meme.
Musk paid tribute to Kabosu’s death on X, posting an image of the Shiba Inu with Harambe, the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla who was shot by a zoo keeper and died in 2016.
Under it, Musk wrote: “OG Doge has ascended to heaven to be with his friend Harambe.”
Dogecoin co-creator Markus also shared several posts in a tribute to the famous Shiba Inu.
“Kabosu will live on forever in our hearts,” he wrote on X.
