First emoji

The earliest pictograms known as "emoji" were designed by Shigetaka Kurita (Japan) in 1998–99, while devising the first mobile internet platform – "i-mode" – for the Japanese telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo. Inspired by symbols used in weather forecasts and manga, Kurita invented the original range of 180 expressions and icons to provide a concise form of communication for mobile phones where message size is often limited.

While emoticons and emoji serve the same purpose (to pictorially capture feelings/thoughts in electronic communication), they differ slightly in form. The former are written out by the user with existing characters on a keyboard, eg :-), whereas the latter are premade, discrete images/icons that are inserted/pasted in.

According to a study in 2015, emoji is the fastest-growing language in the UK. Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University (UK) said: "As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop."