Kabosu, the shiba inu known as the logo model for a cryptocurrency, remains hugely popular even after her death last May, with fan letters flooding in from around Japan.
The female shelter dog was adopted in 2008 by Atsuko Sato, 63, a resident of the city of Sakura, Chiba Prefecture.
An appealing image of Kabosu that Sato posted on her blog in 2010 earned the dog worldwide popularity, and cryptocurrency Dogecoin was created using Kabosu as its logo.
Her death, at an estimated age of 18, was reported by The Associated Press and many other media organizations around the world.
Sato's post on X reporting Kabosu's death received more than 100,000 reactions. About 200 people attended a farewell ceremony held in the Chiba city of Narita shortly after Kabosu's death, and people had to wait in line for more than an hour to sign the condolence book.
Some people from abroad came to the ceremony during their trips to Japan, after learning about the event from foreign media reports. A video of the farewell ceremony was viewed more than 10 million times.
Messages in various languages, including English, Chinese, Russian and Thai as well as Japanese, were written in a notebook prepared at the event.
"I look forward to reading the (foreign language) messages with a camera app with a translation function," Sato said.
Sato received many letters from Kabosu fans across Japan on the dog's birthday last November, six months after her death. Many contained words of gratitude to Kabosu, such as "I was physically and mentally exhausted, but my heart started to move again when I saw (past) posts on the blog."
"I think Kabosu was close to the lives of a variety of people (through the blog)," Sato said with a smile.
Sato now has a new female shiba inu, Neiro, who is estimated to be 11 years old. Like Kabosu, she was a shelter dog.
Neiro is now used to being stroked, after being scared of people when she first came to Sato's home last July.
Sato is pleased about the change. "Some shelter dogs can't do things that are normal for puppies, so I am really happy to see this little growth (in Neiro)," she said.
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