A whimsical internet experiment on X (formerly Twitter) has snowballed into a full-blown viral moment, complete with replies from the person at its center and even Google’s official Japan account.
The trivia game began when a user posting under the handle @FAXXXX raised an odd question: how many times can you add the syllable “ku” (く) to the nickname “Fuku-kun” (ふくくん) — a playful name for actor Fuku Suzuki — before Google Image Search stops returning his photos? The poster tested the idea by repeatedly typing the lengthening word into Google Images and sharing screenshots as the “ku” count climbed.
As the experiment went on, the results took an unexpected turn: past a certain number of added “ku” characters, images of fugu (ふぐ, blowfish) — a word that sounds close to the lengthening nickname — began appearing instead of Suzuki. What started as a search for the actor turned into commenters rooting for the fish, joking that fugu had crashed the party and should “get out of Fuku-kun’s way.” Removing “ku” characters made Suzuki’s photos vanish from the results too, though adding a single “ku” back reportedly brought him reappearing again.
The thread first caught the attention of Fukura P, a member of the Japanese trivia group QuizKnock, whose name was jokingly floated in replies because of the similar-sounding nickname. He responded simply, “Nope, that’s not it,” clarifying he had nothing to do with the coincidence. QuizKnock is a Japanese YouTube channel and media brand built around trivia and educational content, popular with a broad audience in Japan.
Suzuki himself then weighed in, posting a thank-you message and admitting he “wasn’t quite sure what to say” about it all. Two days later, Google’s official Japan account (@googlejapan) joined the thread too, saying it was a search use case they “had never seen before” and thanking users for it. Suzuki replied again, expressing surprise that Google had responded at all.
Who is Fuku Suzuki?
Fuku Suzuki (鈴木福) is a Japanese actor represented by the talent agency Theatre Academy Actors (テアトルエンターテインメント). According to his official X bio, he is set to appear in the musical RENT starting in October, and has recently starred in the drama Aku no Hana, NHK’s drama series Konbini Kyodai, and the Hulu original series Tokeikan no Satsujin. He also has upcoming film roles in Higuma!! and Magamaga Onna, along with a part in TTFC’s 10th-anniversary project Fortix.
