This is Kabosu. She's the shiba inu whose face became the internationally recognized Doge meme after a photoshoot went viral in 2010. Kabosu passed peacefully today, May 24, at 18, after a long battle with liver disease and leukemia.
Kabosu (which means Pumpkin in Japanese, so named for her round face), was rescued from a puppy mill shutdown and adopted from a shelter in 2008. She lived in Sakura, Japan, with her humans and three feline siblings. Her mom, a kindergarten teacher, first posted the picture of Kabosu with the wide eyes and daintily crossed paws in February 2010. The pup's pic made the rounds on Reddit and Tumblr, before the meme-ified version with colorful "Doge speak" captions began taking over. (such fame, wow.) Kabosu eventually became the face of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin in 2013, which, while created as a joke, reached an $88.8 billion market cap at its peak in May 2021. On Nov. 2, 2023, meme legends celebrated the inaugural Doge Day and unveiled a statue commemorating her. Many in the Doge movement use DOGE as an acronym for "Do Only Good Everyday."
"I think Kabo-chan was the happiest dog in the world," her human wrote in a farewell post on the blog she maintained for Kabosu and her adventures. "And I was the happiest owner." A celebration of her life will be held Sunday, May 26, from 1-4pm at Flower Kaori in Kotsu no Mori, in Narita City.
For her lasting legacy on internet culture, the legend Kabosu receives our highest honor, a 15/10
@dog_rates My festival totem for the last 10 years. Doge has kept me patient, resourceful, adventurous, and always reminded me how important it is to open myself up and stay willing to be a friend for anyone.
@realAllanSiegel@prem_thakker As all of this has unfolded, I’ve been thinking there isn’t anything more embarrassing than being a cop, and then I saw your tweet
@becboynton Really makes it clear why these men work so hard to assure us the behavior of these celebs isn’t a big deal & why they let them off the hook so quickly after a weak apology. (“What, people can’t learn from their mistakes???”) They’re hoping for the same when it becomes their time