Oolong (rabbit)
.jpg) Oolong balancing a waffle on his head in his last "head performance" | |
| Other name(s) |
|
|---|---|
| Breed | Rabbit |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | 1994 Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Died | January 7, 2003 (aged 8) Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Nation from | Japan |
| Years active | 1999–2003 |
| Owner | Hironori Akutagawa |
| "Oolong's Photo journal". Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. | |
Oolong (ウーロン, Ūron, Originated from Chinese:
Akutagawa's site featured "photo journeys" of Oolong traveling with his master through the house, yard, and other locations. The website became known to a wider audience when it was covered in 2001 by Syberpunk,[1] a site which focuses on odd aspects of Japanese culture.
History
[edit]Oolong was trained to balance objects on his head, an art called 'Head Performance' by his owner.[2] The first object balanced on Oolong's head was a 35 mm film canister on 25 May 1999.[3] Akutagawa later used tea cups, bread, fruit, dorayaki, and a rabbit skull. Although most reactions on the Internet were positive,[citation needed] there were some complaints by people who believed the practice to be cruel to animals. In response, Akutagawa wrote in a message to website visitors:
Some visitors have written me e-mails, accusing me of being cruel to my rabbit and that I am abusing my pet. This was never my intention when I included numerous links to photographs, showing Oolong's unique ability to hold objects on his head. This is not a site to mock rabbits, or demonstrate animal abuse. I'm sure you understand it if you see whole my site.[4]
Throughout the rabbit's lifetime, the photographer continued to document his journeys through natural and not-so-natural environments as well as take hundreds of pictures of the rabbit balancing objects. Oolong was noticed by the media, including the New York Times,[5] and became a widespread Internet meme. One of Oolong's photographs was used as an image macro called "Bunny Wafflehead" which featured Oolong balancing a dorayaki on his head. Another photograph showed Oolong with a pancake on his head with the caption "I have no idea what you're talking about... so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head."[6]
Oolong died on January 7, 2003.[7] Akutagawa took photographs of the rabbit's last days alive and included some of them on his website.[8] Oolong was succeeded as Akutagawa's pet by another rabbit named Yuebing (tr. "moon cake"), a Netherland Dwarf.
References
[edit]- ^ "Oolong. 'The rabbit of this day was observed this way.'". Internet Archive. June 7, 2002. Archived from the original on June 7, 2002. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ "Oolong, the "head performance" bunny". collision detection. April 10, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
- ^ "Oolong pictures". Hironori Akutagawa. May 25, 1999. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
- ^ "English introduction to Akutagawa's web site". Internet Archive. September 26, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ Boxer, Sarah (May 25, 2003). "Prospecting for Gold Among the Photo Blogs". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
- ^ "I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head". Everything2. December 10, 2005. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
- ^ "The last photos taken before Oolong passed away". Internet Archive. January 3, 2008. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
- ^ "This is the last photo of Oolong, on Jan.4 (3 days before his passing)". Internet Archive. September 23, 2003. Archived from the original on February 8, 2004. Retrieved 2012-05-05.