• Zoo nation: After a photo of a dog named Kabosu found its way onto the internet, a meme was born. This past decade saw many other animals gain viral status in Japan, including (from left) a panda at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, hamster backsides and a rather handsome gorilla named Shabani. | RIKO MONMA
    Zoo nation: After a photo of a dog named Kabosu found its way onto the internet, a meme was born. This past decade saw many other animals gain viral status in Japan, including (from left) a panda at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, hamster backsides and a rather handsome gorilla named Shabani. | RIKO MONMA
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In the beginning, there was doge. Much laughs, such influence.

When kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato snapped some photos of her Shiba dog, Kabosu, and posted them on her personal blog in early 2010, little did she realize that she would help foster one of the decade’s biggest memes. One shot of Kabosu side-eyeing the camera morphed into “doge,” a photo overlaid with words in comic sans font that became a constant presence on social media, before inspiring online games and cryptocurrency.

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