![]() ![]() Just like on message boards in days of old, kaomoji were used to garnish conversation and make emotional intent more obvious and clear. As cellphone usage exploded in Japan, kaomoji naturally made the jump, too. Internet access and large color screens were already standard features long before Apple got into the mobile phone game. (Psst – And if you want to bone up on your kaomoji and impress or irritate your friends, Tofugu has a disturbingly comprehensive kaomoji guide!) Made in Japan Source: Mytho88Īlthough Japan’s big cellphone companies, like Docomo and SoftBank, are currently facing some stiff competition from Apple and other Western companies, back in the ’90s, business was booming and Japan was at the forefront of cellphone technology. Unlike emoticons, kaomoji can be seen as an extension of Japan’s kawaii or cute culture, and are heavily influenced by manga and anime, focusing more on the eyes than the mouth and incorporating things like apostrophized sweat drops and slash-marked blushing. The origin of kaomoji is much murkier, though the general consensus seems to be that the first kaomoji (^_^) appeared a few years later in 1986 on a Japanese forum. He suggested using :-) as a “joke marker” after someone posted a fake mercury spill message and other message board users mistakenly thought it was serious. ![]() Fahlman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. As any denizen of the internet knows, a winky face can mean the difference between a sarcastic quip and a straight-faced insult.Įmoticons first hit the scene on Sept. Kaomoji and the West’s emoticons primarily sprung out of a need to more clearly communicate emotional intent on early web forums and message boards. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you’re familiar with kaomoji 顔文字 ( ), which literally means “face letters.” (Like how emoji or 絵文字 can be translated as “picture letters.”) (And explain why Drake’s “praying hands/high-five” emoji tattoo doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.) Pre-Emoji Emoji Let’s see if we can shine a spotlight on the sorta secret history of emoji. So before I begin writing this entire article using emoji alone (don’t tempt me), let’s look back to find patient zero. Though emoji have come from Japan visually intact, the cultural meanings behind them have been lost or given new, Western meanings. Obviously, emoji have arrived and people like me get to be dreadful snoots about it. During the trial, his lawyer argued that the emoji in his client’s text messages were legitimate pieces of evidence. Earlier this year, a man was charged with running an online black-market. Emoji are even being presented in court cases as evidence. Coca-Cola has put emoji in their URLs as part of an advertising campaign. The March 2015 issue of Wired featured emoji on the cover. ![]() Moby Dick has been translated into emoji. ![]() (As one does.)īut emoji aren’t just for anyone with a smartphone these days. Before your mom was sending you grinning emoji or that cute boy was texting you heart-eyes emoji, my study abroad friends and I were using our 2009-era SoftBank phones to send each other long, complicated rows of emoji, most of which involved the poop emoji. ![]()
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