The History of Emojis: From Shigetaka Kurita to Unicode
2026-08-04 · 7 min read · History
Journey through the fascinating history of emojis, from their invention in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita to becoming a universal digital language used by billions worldwide.
The Birth of Emojis
Emojis as we know them today were created in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita, a Japanese designer working for NTT DoCoMo. The original set consisted of 176 simple 12x12 pixel images designed for use on mobile phones. Kurita drew inspiration from manga, Chinese characters, and international signs to create a universal visual language.
From Japan to the World
While emojis quickly became popular in Japan, it took over a decade for them to gain global adoption. The turning point came in 2010 when emojis were officially incorporated into the Unicode Standard, the universal character encoding system. This meant emojis could finally be used consistently across different platforms and devices.
The Emoji Explosion
In 2011, Apple added an emoji keyboard to iOS, followed by Google adding emoji support to Android. This triggered a massive surge in emoji usage worldwide. By 2015, emojis had become so ubiquitous that the Oxford Dictionary chose the 'Face with Tears of Joy' emoji (😂) as its Word of the Year—the first time a symbol had received this honor.
The Unicode Emoji Standard
Today, the Unicode Consortium oversees the development and standardization of emojis. New emojis are added annually, with proposals reviewed by the Emoji Subcommittee. The current Unicode standard includes over 3,700 emojis covering diverse skin tones, genders, professions, foods, animals, and cultural symbols.
The Cultural Impact of Emojis
Emojis have transformed digital communication in profound ways. They add emotional nuance to text messages, help bridge language barriers, and provide a visual shorthand for complex ideas. The emoji has been called the fastest-growing language in human history, with over 5 billion emojis sent daily on Facebook Messenger alone.
The Future of Emojis
As digital communication continues to evolve, emojis are evolving too. Features like Emoji Kitchen, which allows users to create custom combinations, represent the next frontier. With advances in AI and augmented reality, we may soon see dynamic, personalized, and even 3D emojis that further enrich our digital conversations.