Atsuko Sato could never have imagined that a candid photo she took of her Shiba Inu dog playing on the couch in 2010 would one day become a worldwide meme sensation and go on to inspire a cryptocurrency promoted by influential tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Yet that single snapshot of Kabosu became the iconic “doge,” capturing the hearts of millions with her quizzical expression that was then overlaid with an imagined internal monologue in broken English using multicolored comic book-style font.
After spending more than a decade as an unwitting symbol of internet absurdity, Kabosu died last month at the age of 18. But she has left a legacy unlike any other canine.
The 2010 photo of Kabosu that inspired the “doge” meme. (Photo courtesy of Atsuko Sato)(Kyodo)
Sato, a kindergarten teacher in the quiet city of Sakura east of Tokyo, said Kabosu’s doge fame enabled her to do things like build schools for children in developing countries and connect with people from around the world.
“I didn’t really understand what ‘meme’ meant at first, but now I receive a lot of messages every day with this word. People who have grown up with the meme say things like, ‘It really helped me’ or ‘Thank you for entertaining us during our childhood,” the 62-year-old said.
Kabosu also became the face of dogecoin, a cryptocurrency created in 2013 initially as a parody of bitcoin. The coin’s popularity skyrocketed after Musk expressed his support, with the mogul even temporarily changing the Twitter logo to doge in April 2023 and allowing dogecoin to be used for purchases of certain items on the Tesla electric car website.
The internet’s doge obsession meant that when the original image was minted as an NFT, or non-fungible token, and auctioned in 2021, it sold for the equivalent of a whopping $4.2 million, making it one of the most expensive photos ever sold.
“As is the true ethos of doge — doing something wacky and wonderful — we wanted to buy the most famous piece of internet history…and bring it back to the people through fractionalization so all can own the doge,” said Tridog, a core contributor to Own The Doge, the community that now owns the NFT.
Atsuko Sato and Kabosu pose for a photo during a trip to Matsushima, northeastern Japan, in October 2021. (Photo courtesy of Atsuko Sato)(Kyodo)
After putting the image up for sale, Sato donated all proceeds to several charities, including the Japanese Red Cross Society and the World Food Program.
Own The Doge was also involved in auctioning the couch from the original famous photo of Kabosu, with the proceeds once again donated to charity, and organizing a visit for overseas fans to Kabosu’s hometown in the spring of last year.
“It was incredible to meet Atsuko and Kabosu in person. It truly showed how kind and wholesome Atsuko is and that Kabosu and thus doge is a reflection of that love. After that visit, I have always looked at Atsuko as the true power behind doge,” said Tridog.
Last year, the group also established the first International Doge Day on Nov. 2 and funded the building of a bronze statue of Kabosu at a park in her hometown where she was often walked.
The monument was unveiled that day, the date Sato adopted Kabosu in 2008 and marked as her birthday, given that her exact birthdate was unknown.
Atsuko Sato with the monument of Kabosu in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, on June 7, 2024. (Kyodo)
Sato said she first discovered Kabosu had become internet famous around 2013, when a friend emailed her a link to a site with lots of memes using the Shiba Inu’s image.
“When I checked the site, I saw Kabo-chan had been turned into a loaf of bread, a donut, and even given huge muscles,” Sato said with a laugh.
While Sato at first felt a bit uneasy that photos from her blog had spread worldwide, she now feels grateful, saying, “I always thought the person who found it first was amazing. I wondered how they managed to find it among so many photos online.”
Outside of the doge phenomenon, Kabosu led a peaceful life with Sato, her husband and their three cats. The family often enjoyed road trips across Japan, even as far as Hokkaido, and were always greeted by fans upon arrival once Sato posted her travel plans on her blog.
“Kabo-chan was a really hardworking dog. If there were about 200 fans, for example, she would patiently let each one take a photo with her without causing a fuss,” Sato remembered with a smile.
However, in December 2022, Kabosu suddenly fell very ill with leukemia and liver disease, which was a huge shock to Sato. What surprised Sato even more, though, was the global reaction to the news.
“The story of Kabosu being in critical condition spread globally, and I was told that it was even on the evening news in the United States. That’s when I realized for the first time how big it was. I thought, if her illness is news, what will happen when she passes away?” Sato said.
While Kabosu made a miraculous, albeit temporary, recovery her condition began to seriously deteriorate from May last year, when she became unable to take solid food and had to be fed through a syringe.
When Sato announced that Kabosu had passed away around a year later on May 24, it once again sent shockwaves across the globe, resulting in a huge outpouring of love.
Sato said she could not keep up with all the comments on her Instagram and X accounts, where thousands of messages were left in various languages.
A farewell ceremony held at a friend’s flower shop in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on May 26 also drew hundreds of fans who came to pay their respects, including from Asia and countries like Israel, the United States and Canada, according to Sato.
The altar at a memorial ceremony for Kabosu held in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, on May 26, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Atsuko Sato)(Kyodo)
“Fans from nearby places like Taiwan and Hong Kong said they booked a flight to come as soon as they heard the news, while others already in Japan said they changed their travel plans to attend the ceremony,” said Sato.
Despite having crossed the rainbow bridge, Kabosu continues to be immortalized as an internet legend. Tridog, who said a doge documentary is in the works, teased that there were also plans “to break a world record in partnership with the Guinness Book of World Records” on International Doge Day this year.
Sato plans to keep updating her blog with yet untold stories of Kabosu and is open to adopting another dog, but she is just taking things one day at a time for now.
“None of this came about because of anything I did, so as for the future, it’s like the wind blowing. If there is a God, then it’s up to God to decide, and it’s not something I need to strive for,” said Sato.
“I’m not really thinking about anything grand. Because for me, she was not doge, she was just Kabo-chan.”
Related coverage:
Shiba Inu dog that inspired “doge” meme, cryptocurrency Dogecoin dies
Credit: Source link