{"id":56526,"date":"2026-02-06T13:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56526"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:04:18","slug":"masahiro-sakurais-beloved-pet-cat-fukurashi-passes-away-at-17-years-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurais-beloved-pet-cat-fukurashi-passes-away-at-17-years-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Masahiro Sakurai\u2019s beloved pet cat,\u00a0Fukurashi, passes away at 17 years old\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Following a battle against\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sora_Sakurai\/status\/2018618369537429740?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">several\u00a0serious illnesses<\/a>, including\u00a0pleural effusion, heart failure, kidney failure, and cystitis, game designer\u00a0<strong>Masahiro Sakurai<\/strong>\u2019s cat\u00a0Fukurashi\u00a0passed away at 7\u00a0am JST on February 6.\u00a0Sakurai\u2019s\u00a0fans\u00a0and peers, including Kirby voice\u00a0actress\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Makiko_Ohmoto\/status\/2019602703803179390?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Makiko Ohmoto<\/a>, expressed their condolences.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u4eca\u671d7\u6642\uff64\u611b\u732b\u3075\u304f\u3089\u3057\u304c\u606f\u3092\u5f15\u304d\u53d6\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\uff61<br>\u5bb6\u306b\u5e30\u3063\u3066\u304b\u3089\u306f\u304a\u3060\u3084\u304b\u306b\uff64\u3086\u308b\u3084\u304b\u306b\u901d\u3051\u305f\u3068\u601d\u3044\u307e\u3059\uff61<br>\u624b\u306b\u306f\u3060\u3044\u3076\u524d\u306b\u565b\u307e\u308c\u305f\u6642\u306e\u50b7\u304c\uff64\u8db3\u306b\u306f\u3057\u3087\u3063\u3061\u3085\u3046\u3059\u308a\u3088\u3063\u3066\u304f\u308c\u305f\u611f\u89e6\u304c\u307e\u3060\u6b8b\u3063\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\uff61<br>\u3044\u307e\u307e\u3067\u3042\u308a\u304c\u3068\u3046! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FPvrUa6nRu\">pic.twitter.com\/FPvrUa6nRu<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u685c\u4e95 \u653f\u535a \/ Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sora_Sakurai\/status\/2019551737624043729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 5, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;This morning at 7 o&#8217;clock, my beloved cat\u00a0Fukurashi\u00a0passed away.\u00a0I believe\u00a0she\u00a0passed peacefully and gently after returning home. The bite mark on my hand from long ago\u00a0remains, and the sensation of her\u00a0constantly rubbing against my legs still\u00a0lingers. Thank you for everything!<\/em>\u00a0&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While not credited in Sakurai\u2019s games,&nbsp;Fukurashi&nbsp;played an integral role in providing comfort and&nbsp;laughs&nbsp;to her owner and his fans.&nbsp;In addition to&nbsp;appearing in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/masahiro-sakurai-reveals-how-he-stores-his-impressive-game-collection-consoles-and-cat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some of Sakurai\u2019s videos<\/a>&nbsp;on his&nbsp;Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube channel, she was also featured on the cover of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/i-want-to-live-a-modest-and-unassuming-life-masahiro-sakurai-was-initially-reluctant-about-approving-a-manga-about-his-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his biographical manga<\/a>.&nbsp;Fukurashi&nbsp;was so popular&nbsp;that her video on&nbsp;Sakurai\u2019s&nbsp;YouTube channel&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20221121-16844\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">surpassed some of&nbsp;the&nbsp;other video game-related content<\/a>&nbsp;in terms of views.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"My Feline Friend, Fukurashi [Grab Bag]\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EbkshNLpMwo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According&nbsp;to&nbsp;Sakurai\u2019s posts,&nbsp;Fukurashi\u2019s&nbsp;health started to deteriorate toward the end of January. After taking her to the vet,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sora_Sakurai\/status\/2015316279813669203?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sakurai announced that her blood test results didn\u2019t look promising<\/a>, prompting her to receive daily IV drips. Following the diagnoses&nbsp;for&nbsp;several illnesses and the stress&nbsp;Fukurashi&nbsp;faced during treatments,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sora_Sakurai\/status\/2018618369537429740?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sakurai and his family decided to care for her<\/a>&nbsp;until she passed away.&nbsp;She was 17 years old.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a battle against\u00a0several\u00a0serious illnesses, game designer\u00a0Masahiro Sakurai\u2019s cat\u00a0Fukurashi\u00a0passed away at 7\u00a0am JST on February 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":56530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-56526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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