DAO organizes holy pilgrimage to meet the Dogecoin dog in Japan
Mecca. Bethlehem. Wailing Wall. And now: Doge.
Zealous followers of Kabosu – the wide-eyed Shiba Inu featured in the original Doge memewhose fluffy face adorns popular Dogecoin cryptocurrency born in the wake of that Internet phenomenon—now has the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the dog’s earthly abode in Sakura, Japan.
The trip comes with permission Owns the dogea Doge-oriented NFT community supported by the Doge DAO, a Doge-focused Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) … itself born from PleasrDAOa collection of NFT artists and collectors who pool their money to acquire culturally relevant digital art.
“We think of Pleasr as the Internet’s Louvre, and of Doge as her Mona Lisa,” tridoga pseudonymous core contributor to Own the Doge and PleasrDAO member, told Decrypt.
Tridog, himself a strict follower of the DOGE (Do Only Good Everyday) idea, visited 17-year-old Kabosu and her “hooman”, doge mother Atsuko Sato, a local kindergarten teacher, in Japan last fall. Forever changed by the encounter, tridog is now excited to share his religious catharsis with select members of the Doge community.
“This pilgrimage … will explore the origins of one of the greatest legends in Internet history, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to return to [Kabosu’s] roots in and around Tokyo, a place known for its crazy and wonderful happenings,” tridog said.
The tour, which will take place from May 3 to 7, will include visits to dog-themed temples and statues in the Tokyo area, go-karting on the city streets and a Geisha dinner. Of course, it will also include a trip to the small town of Sakura, where lucky tour participants will meet Doge, walk on Doge, pose for meme reenactment photos with Doge, and visit the future site of a bronze statue of Doge – which Doge DAO previously collected in $100,000 to travel in the city.
Also the Pilgrim of Honor Kyle Craven, aka Accident Brian, the subject of another iconic 2010s meme. Although Craven’s face will likely be on display for most of the ride, those guests who wish to anonymously indulge in Doge celebrations will be given “Doge big heads,” or Doge-themed masks, to wear during the ride. (“We’ll definitely make this trip ‘anon-frenly,'” tridog said.)
Anyone can apply to join the tour, although the space per Own the Doge is almost empty. On the trip application, would-be pilgrims are asked to reveal their true motivations for making the trip. To take a picture with the Doge? Having dinner with the doge’s human, Atsuko? Or maybe to “shake the hand of Atsuko’s husband (finger featured in meme)”?
However, one lucky raffle winner will have their base travel fee of $4,200 plus airfare (up to $1,500) covered by Doge DAO. To participate, participants must own at least one Doge Pixel NFT. What is it, you ask? In 2021, PleasrDAO purchased an NFT of the original Doge meme from Atsuko Sato for 4 million dollars (a lot wow), then fractionalized it to billions of DOG tokens.
Individual pixels from that image can now be owned for about $48 worth of DOG tokens a piece. And the more Doge pixels a person owns, the greater the chances of winning the Doge Pilgrim Lottery (although such fractionation and resale of NFTs have been considered potentially illegal by even vocally pro-crypto regulators).
Last month, PleasrDAO auctioned the sofa from the original Doge meme to raise funds for the humanitarian organization Save the Children. The couch fetched a price of 21 ETH, worth just $35,000 at the time.
