The emoji for "happy." (C) KDDI

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The emoji used to express consternation. (C) KDDI

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Emoji (literally "picture characters") is the Japanese word for the faces and other symbols people use to convey their feelings in e-mails and text messages. They have become an everyday feature of sending and receiving messages in Japan. Here we present a look at how emoji are used and how they differ from Western "emoticons" and "smileys."

Saying It with a SmileThe biggest advantage to using emoji is the freedom they provide to express a wide range of emotions. Japanese cell phones come loaded with a variety of small, in-line graphical images that can be inserted into messages like ordinary text - ranging from emoticons featuring happy, sad, and other facial expressions to depictions of foods and vehicles. These have the effect of succinctly conveying the sender's feelings and of clarifying the tone of the surrounding text - something that is not always obvious from text alone.

Many Japanese emoji have been created by mobile phone companies for users of their handsets, but ordinary individuals can also design their own. Typing "free emoji" into a Japanese search engine reveals numerous sites offering original, high-quality emoji that can be downloaded free of charge.

A text message composed with emoji.

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The disadvantage of these in-line images is that they can sometimes become garbled when they are sent between different e-mail providers on PCs or between mobile handsets and PCs. Fortunately, people in Japan also have an extensive system for conveying emotions using ordinary characters on keyboards and keypads. Japanese kaomoji (literally, "face characters"), as they are called, differ in some ways from their Western counterparts. Western text-based emoticons typically appear turned at a 90-degree angle; familiar examples include :-) for "happy," :-( for "sad," and :D for "delighted." By contrast, the Japanese kaomoji equivalents appear right-side up, allowing for greater expression in the eyes and enabling hands to be incorporated, too: (^o^) is a popular combination for "happy," (;_:) means "sad," and (^_^)/ means "hurrah!."

Different (Key) Strokes for Different FolksWith cross-border communication now common, many people have wondered if it might be possible to create a standard set of global emoticons. Varying perceptions of the meaning behind emoji by people of different nationalities and cultures, however, present a barrier to introducing a standardized set of characters.

A kaomoji representing "crying." (C) NTT DOCOMO

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Take the Japanese representations for sadness, discomfort, and despair, for example. In emoji these are often signified by semicolons or other characters representing tears or sweat, but people in other countries could easily misinterpret these as raindrops. Or how about the Japanese emoticon m(_ _)m ? Is it someone doing push-ups? To any Japanese person the meaning is obvious: it represents dogeza, the act of kneeling and bowing one's head to the ground to express an apology or a polite request.

According to a street survey conducted by a Japanese TV station, the Japanese kaomoji for happiness - a face with narrowed eyes and an open, circular-shaped mouth - is more likely to be perceived by non-Japanese as an expression of surprise or dismay. The broadcaster speculated that Japanese people tend to place more significance on the shape of the emoticon's eyes, whereas for people in other countries the shape of the mouth is key. This last example serves to demonstrate that before emoji can be used by more people throughout the world, it will be necessary to explore the different ways in which the meanings behind these icons are interpreted. (^o^)/~~ (meaning "Goodbye!") (March 2010)