oolong, the japanese bunny whose owner has lovingly canonized him since 1998 through photographic portraiture, has died. oolong became a bit of a celebrity a while back when several websites—most notably metafilter, who adopted him as their mascot—simultaneously found a series of quixotic images of oolong balancing things on his head. since then, i have been checking in on him at least once a week.

many americans thought of oolong’s images as another opaque japanese oddity. i found them emblematic of japan’s relationship with natural beauty: noble, gentle, and sometimes silly.

candidly, oolong’s owner has documented the bunny’s death and burial. everything should be remembered this fondly as it passes on.