THE world-famous Japanese dog who inspired the Doge meme has died at the age of 19.
Kabosu’s owner, Atsuko Sato, said a “farewell party” will be held for the much-loved pooch on Sunday.
Atsuko, who adopted Kabosu in 2008, said: “Kabosu, today, May 24, at 7.50am fell into a deep sleep. Kabosu is at rest now.”
In 2010, pictures of the beloved Shiba Inu went viral online and have been repeatedly shared over the years as a meme called “Doge”.
The meme inspired the creation of Dogecoin in 2013 – with a photo of Kabosu used as the logo for the cryptocurrency.
It initially started as a joke currency but its success inspired a cohort of dog-themed cryptocurrencies.
In April last year, Elon Musk briefly changed the logo of Twitter/X to an image of Kabosu – causing the price of the crypto to skyrocket.
Kabosu’s owner said “a farewell party” will be held on Sunday.
“It will be held at Flower Kaori in Kotsu no Mori, Narita City, from 1pm to 4pm,” she said.
Kabosu had been battling cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukaemia since 2022.
Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko adopted Kabosu – the name of a type of Japanese citrus fruit – from an animal shelter in 2008.
She had been abandoned by a puppy mill along with 19 other Shiba dogs.
In a 2013 interview, Atsuko said she was “taken aback” by Kabosu’s online fame.
She told The Verge: “Kabosu is very different from the typical temperament of Shiba.
“She’s very gentle and calm. She loves being photographed.
“She was not loved when she was little, so I want to shower her with love as a member of my family,”
Pictures of Kabosu posted on Atsuko’s blog – once among the top five most popular pet blogs in Japan – have been fashioned into various bizarre memes over the last decade.
A photo of the pooch perched on a couch with her eyebrows raised has been Photoshopped onto a giant rock, a Canadian landscape, and a Christmas sweater.
Tesla CEO Musk has been very vocal in his support for the meme-based crypto.
Dogecoin surged in April 2021 after Musk dubbed himself “The Dogefather” in a tweet.
That single tweet saw Dogecoin cryptocurrency price surge up to 20 per cent within hours.
Dogecoin was invented by software engineers Billy Markus from IBM and Jackson Palmer from Adobe.
They aimed to create a peer-to-peer digital currency in the hopes that it could go on to expand into a broader demographic than Bitcoin.
