Following i-mode’s launch in 1999, that nuance made emoji an immediate hit in Japan, where the demands of courtesy make for a complex art and a tiny mistake can prove costly.

With over 6 billion emojis sent on a daily basis, and over 90% of the world’s online community making regular use of them, emojis may be one of Japan’s greatest exports.

Emoji add a new depth to communications, but what of their cultural impact? Keith Houston's Face with Tears of Joy offers ...

Emoji were created in 1998 by a 25-year-old employee of Japanese mobile-phone carrier NTT Docomo, who designed them for an internet messaging service. But it was Western players Apple and Google ...

In this Sept. 14, 2017, photo, Django Co. Ltd. Director Shigetaka Kurita, the Japanese creator of the first emoji, writes a pictograph during an interview at his office in Tokyo.

In keeping with other Japanese words, emoji can be used to refer to both the singular and the plural. A better translation might be “pictogram.” ...

With over 6 billion emojis sent on a daily basis, and over 90% of the world’s online community making regular use of them, emojis may be one of Japan’s greatest exports.