7:50 a.m.

Kabosu died at 7:50 a.m. on Friday, May 24, 2024, at home in Sakura. Sato was petting her. On her blog, Sato wrote that Kabosu “quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her” — peacefully, without suffering, feeling the warmth of her hands. Kabosu had been living with leukemia and liver disease since 2022. Because she was a rescue, no one knew her exact birthday; Sato believed she was about 18. The photo that made her famous was taken when she was about four. Nearly everything after it — the kindergarten mornings, the illness, the stroller rides — happened far outside that frame.