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Oolong (after the oolong tea) was the name of a rabbit owned by photographer Hironori Akutagawa, of Hokkaido, Japan. This domestic rabbit has become a well known internet phenomenon since 2001 through Akutagawa's own home site. The home site was created for rabbit lovers in Japan which featured "photo journeys" of the domestic Rabbit travelling with his master through the house, yard, and other areas of interest, however, it reached public by 2001 through a site called Syberpunk.com (http://www.Syberpunk.com), a site which focused on odd events in Japanese culture.
The reason for Oolong's large fanbase on the Internet, is due to the fact that Akutagawa had trained the rabbit to balance objects on its head. The first object balanced on Oolong's head was a 35mm film canister (http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~sokaisha/rabbit/990524/990524.htm) on 25 May, 1999. Soon, the rabbit had moved on to balance multiple other things on its head, including tea cups, bread, fruit, pancakes and even a rabbit skull!
Throughout the rabbit's lifetime, the photographer continued to document its journeys through natural and not-so-natural environments as well as the hundreds of pictures just featuring the rabbit balancing objects. The rabbit has been featured in multiple news media including New York Times, and has continued to wield its mark in Internet Forums, chatrooms, and generic Internet communications/culture.
Sadly, Oolong died on January 7, 2003. Akutagawa took photographs (http://sokaisha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/030108/030108.htm) of the rabbit's last moments alive and has included it in his website.
Akutagawa now owns a new rabbit by the name of Yuebing, which he hopes to raise a similar way like Oolong the Rabbit.
See also: Internet phenomenon
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